Italy: Sales of organics still on the rise

The Italian organic market has been growing for nine consecutive years. According to the official Ismea/Gfk panel, sales of organics in supermarkets rose by 9.2% in 2011 and by 6.1% in the first six months of 2012. The growth rate in the specialist trade is even higher: about twice the increase recorded in the supermarkets. Overall, sales in specialist channels, mainstream supermarkets, farmers’ direct marketing, box schemes and the food service sector in 2011 reached a total of 2 billion euros, plus exports worth over 1.1 billion euros.
(Picture: The organic farmers' market in Padua is very popular)

Table: Development of sales of organics in Italy from 2007 to 2011 (in million euros) ; Source: Ismea for supermarkets, Assobio for other channels

Sales in m euros	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Supermarket sales	400	420	450	500	545
Organic shop sales	550	600	700	800	895
Food service	160	180	200	250	280
Other sales	160	170	200	250	280
Total domestic market	1,270	1,370	1,550	1,800	2,000
Exports	865	925	1,000	1,050	1,135
Total sales	2,135	2,295	2,550	2,850	3,135

Organic shop sales reached 895 million euros in 2011 and sales through conventional supermarkets amounted to 545 million euros. Food service and other channels reached 280 million euros of turnover respectively. Exports amounted to 1,135 million euros in 2011.

The selection of organic products in Italian supermarkets, including producers’ branded and private label ranges, rarely exceeds 400 references, compared with 4,000 – 5,000 product ranges that can be found in specialist stores. The larger amount obviously responds more effectively to the demand of loyal and  higher-spending consumers.


Sales of dairy products, eggs, cakes, pastries, snacks and non-alcoholic drinks saw the highest increase in 2011. In 2012, cakes, pastries, snacks and non-alcoholic drinks grew massively. Fresh and processed fruit and vegetables, dairy products and eggs had the largest share on the total organic sales.

Table: sales of organic products in Italian supermarkets. Sales include only mainstream supermarkets; fully organic supermarkets are not included. Source: Ismea/Gfk Eurisko

Products	Var. % 2011/2010	Var. % first 6 months 2012 on first 6 months 2011	% share of total organic sales
Whole range (packaged products)	+9.2%	+6.1%	100.0
Fruit and vegetables (fresh and processed)	+3.8%	+1.0%	30.4
Dairy	+16.4%	+9.5%	23.2
Eggs	+21.4%	-6.4%	13.7
Cakes, pastries, snacks	+13.7%	+26.1%	8.1
Pasta, rice, bread & substitutes	-3.3%	+9.0%	8.1
Sugar, coffee, teas	-6.0%	-6.2%	5.6
Non-alcoholic drinks	+16.0%	+48.1%	3.8
Meat (fresh and processed)	-8.2%	+3.2%	2.1

The specialist trade consists of about 1,200 retail outlets, of which about 200 had mini-market sizes of 200 - 600 m². Specialized outlets are mainly concentrated in the metropolitan areas in the north and central regions.  NaturaSì, the only national chain of organic supermarkets, is part of Ecor NaturaSì Plc and now runs more than 100 supermarkets in Italy,  as well as two restaurants and a butcher’s shop. Ecor NaturaSì also runs the Cuore Bio marketing project (organic hearth), involving around 300 independent organic shops all over Italy. Ki Group, a 40-year-old wholesale company with a range of 2,500 organic items and a network of 4,500 customers (organic shops, herbalists, chemists), operates the Grandi marche bio (organic brands) marketing project, involving about 250 independent organic shops over the whole of Italy. (Picture: Presentation of fruit at a NaturaSì market)

The food service sector is also expected to grow. A 1999 law requires the daily use of some organic products in school meals, so more than 1 million children already have organic meals at school, and there are 140,000 of them in Rome alone. The "criteria for the environmental standard and the provision of food" in the National Action Plan on Green Public Procurement was approved in 2011 and requires central and local government to use at least 40 % organic products in the case of fruit and vegetables, milk, cheese, eggs, oil and processed products, and at least 15% of organic meat. Some regional laws even increase these minimum percentages. In Emilia Romagna, for example, the entire menu  from nursery to the end of primary school has to be organic.
 

Exports increased by 8 % in 2011. The growth could have been more significant, but the organic sector too suffered because of the mismanagement of the crisis of Escherichia coli by the German authorities when in the spring of 2011 sales of vegetables were stopped across the EU. For 2012, exports are expected to grow again. Italian companies are supplying international markets with fruit and vegetables, olive oil, pasta, wine and balsamic vinegars, cheese, and canned and processed products in general. (Picture: Italian companies like Brio, which exports about 50 % of their production, regularly take part in BioFach)

At the international exhibition Sana held in Bologna in September, about 600 exhibitors and around 30,000 professional visitors gathered, as well as some strong delegations of foreign buyers. More than 50 top buyers from Russia, Brazil, USA, Japan and China took part in a three-days-B2B marathon. FederBio, the Italian umbrella federation that represents 96 % of Italian organic operators, has launched an intensive campaign to support the process of internationalization, organizing trade missions to Brazil, China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the Baltic States in cooperation with the Italian Trade Commission and some regional governments, and also thanks to some EU funds. (Picture, from left to right: Vice President  Marco Bignardi, President Paolo Carnemolla, and Vice President Andrea Bertoldi of FederBio)