Italy: organic export heavyweight

According to estimates by the Italian industry association AssoBio sales of organic products amounted to 4.2 billion euros in 2015. As the country is an important European supplier and producer of a broad range of fresh vegetables, pasta, olive oil and a number of processed food products, it is no wonder that almost one third of this amount, 1.5 billion euros, was attributable to exports.

Sales in the natural food trade estimated of 860 million euros were almost equal to those generated in the retail food trade (872 million euros) in 2015. Delivery services and stands at farmer’s markets also constitutes a market-relevant channel with sales of 238 million euros.

According to information by the marketing research firm Nielsen, sales of organic products as registered by scanners in supermarkets and department stores increased by 20% in 2015 to 872 million euros, which is significantly above the two previous years with a growth rate of 12% (2014) and 11% (2013).

As a result of the increase in sales in all sectors of the Italian organic food products sector, the industry was able to provide significantly more jobs. AssoBio assumes the increase in the number of jobs to be 17%. This means that 184,000 people are working in this sector, including those involved in organic farming.