Sales of organics in Italy still growing

As every year on the occasion of Sana, the relevant figures for production and sales in the organic sector in Italy were revealed. Organics are still developing well in this country. Calculated in the third week of August, this year’s sales at Coop, for example, increased by 28 % compared with 2010, which is highly significant, since Coop is the main Italian retailer. According to the manager of the supermarket chain Despar, Gianluca Di Venanzo, Despar’s organic sales grew by 31 % in 2010. Coming to the specialized organic market, NaturaSì with 88 organic supermarkets, two restaurants and a butcher’s shop grew by 19.8 % in 2010, which is close to double the growth in sales of mainstream supermarkets. Independent shops experienced lower but nevertheless positive growth. According to a random check, sales increased between 10 % and 18 %. (Picture: Inauguration of Sana 2011)

The twenty-third edition of Sana took place in Bologna from 8 to 11 September 2011. For the first time, only organic companies were allowed to exhibit in the food sector and only professional visitors were admitted. This year, 25,000 Italian and 900 foreign visitors were counted at the international exhibition for natural products, as well as 532 exhibitors. It was an excellent event, with exhibitors excited about the general market trend, the quantity and quality of visitors and the innovations provided by the Bologna Fair. (Picture: Federbio meeting at Sana)
 

Among the speakers at the many conferences and workshops were the Italian Minister of Agriculture Mr Saverio Romano, the chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development at the European Parliament Mr Paolo De Castro, and many regional agricultural ministers. A full day of workshops was dedicated to food services (institutional and private sector), and a national award for the best organic restaurants was organized by three Italian food-sector magazines. There was a contest for the best new product too, won by Baule Volante with a new range of baked foods. The cosmetics company L’Erbolario and the association of processors and wholesalers of organic food, AssoBio, arranged free buses from many Italian cities, carrying more than 2,500 shop-owners to Bologna to attend the exhibition. (Picture: Product innovations)
 

According to Ismea (Istituto di Servizi per il Mercato Agricolo Alimentare - Institute for Services to the Agri-food Market), an agency of the Italian Ministry for Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy), the market share of organic food in Italy accounts for around 2 % of total food expenditure, and estimated to be worth 3 billion euros. Ismea monitors the purchase of organic products by Italian families by means of a specific survey run together with AcNielsen. However, AcNielsen only takes into account the sales in mainstream supermarkets, which aren’t the main market channel for organics in Italy (see table). 

	2007	2008	2009	2010
Supermarket sales (mill. EUR)	400	420	450	500
Organic shop sales (mill. EUR)	550	600	700	800
Food service (mill. EUR)	160	180	200	250
Other sales (mill. EUR)	160	170	200	250
Total domestic market (mill. EUR)	1,270	1,370	1,550	1,800
Export (mill. EUR)	865	925	1,000	1,050
Total sales (mill. EUR)	2,135	2,295	2,550	2,850

Table: Development of sales in Italy (Source: Ismea for supermarkets sales, Assobio for other channels)

In supermarkets, the first four months of 2011 showed growth in spending on organics of 11.5 % compared with the same period in 2010, confirming the positive trend seen last year (2010: +11.6 % over 2009). Among the different categories, according to ISMEA, fruit and vegetables are the best-sellers, followed by dairy and breakfast products. Also significant is the volume of drinks, eggs and baby food. 
 
The most recent data for the first four months of 2011 in terms of spending show particularly strong growth in purchases of dairy products (+ 20.4 % over the same period in 2010), beverages (+ 13.9 %) and breakfast products (+ 10.4 %). Fruit and vegetables also developed well (+ 8.5 %). The latter represent 21.7 % of organic spending in supermarkets. Pasta and rice too grew at a particularly strong rate, exceeding 30 %, as measured by Ismea, while baby foods showed a decrease of 7.7 %. Lower sales in terms of value were also recorded for oils (- 20.3 %), bread and substitutes (- 11.3 %) and dressings (- 20.5 %). (Picture: Stand of Ecor - NaturaSì)
 

The best-selling individual products are eggs and fresh milk, with a share of 8.5 % and 8 % of the total expenditure on organic products on an annual basis and an increase of 7 % and 32 % respectively. The list of the most popular organic products continues with yogurt, with an increase of 8.8 % in the first four months of 2011, soy beverages (- 0.6 %) and fruit juices (+ 40.3 %). From January to April 2011, purchases of homogenized baby food fell by 4.6 %, while pasta marked a leap forward of 35 %. In contrast, compared with the general dynamics, olive oils lagged behind with a fall of 17 % on an annual basis. The trend for honey, jams and biscuits was also good, as well as for UHT milk, teas and herbs. (Picture: Fior di Loto products)
 

All wholesale companies reported growth in the first eight months of 2011 - between 10 % and 20 % - with a slight slow-down in June and July, but with a strong recovery in August. Only companies specialised in fruit and vegetables are seeing slow growth due to the (badly managed) case of Escherichia coli. 

Probios, a Florence-based wholesaler, became the official supplier of Udinese (a first division football club), which came fourth in last national championship. All the players are now having an organic diet. Probios organized a workshop with the team’s nutritionist and presented the results of a study by Florence University about the impact of an organic diet on sportsmen. (Picture: Udinese nutrionist, Vassilis Kanagulis, young Udinese footballer, Elisa Favilli, Probios' marketing manager)
 

38,679 organic farms (with exclusively farming activities) were registered in Italy in 2010. 3,128 farms had processing activities, and 5,592 were processors and trade operators. 44 companies worked as importers and 220 were farmers, processors or farmers / processors with import activities. (Source: Sinab: Italian Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Forestry). The slight fall in the number of farmers – from 43,230 in 2009 to 41,807 in 2010 - is not related to market issues but to subsidies. In some regions five-year environmental grants came to end and the farmers who had worked according to organic guidelines only looking for grants left the control system, while farmers with more market-orientation kept on increasing, as can be seen in the change in the number of farms with processing activities (2,564 in 2009, 3,128 in 2010, + 22 %).