«Our role has always been to create quality, safe, good, healthy food products and we represent an excellence of Made in Italy in the world. Even in the most critical moment of the pandemic, we have managed to guarantee the supply of food, without interruption. Everyone did their best, but a special thanks goes to all the workers who, in such a unique period of difficulty, did not avoid what was requested ». This is how Marco Lavazza, president of the Italian Food Union, comments on the 2020 numbers of the agri-food sector which overall recorded a 2.5% decline. A negative result only partially offset by the growth of pasta, with + 11% in volume, but the frozen food sector also held up well from the crisis, which despite the closures of canteens and public establishments recorded a + 12% in volume and that of ready-made sauces with + 18% volume. Breakfast products are also doing well, such as biscuits, which marked a + 16% thanks also to the numerous efforts in product innovation but above all because breakfast has forcibly become “homemade” and chocolate bars, the protagonist of many recipes homemade, with a + 7%.
According to the researchers, “the desire of consumers to” dispense “is evident and this element has in fact determined the greatest success of some sectors”. On the contrary, “the closures foreseen for the lockdown and other measures in force during the health emergency, including the ban on inviting relatives and friends home, have affected many other sectors of the food sector, which are now recovering with a great deal of effort. also due to the increase in costs, suffered during the lockdown and never returned, of raw materials, packaging, logistics, supplies and all the other factors necessary for the production of food goods ».
According to Uif – which brings together 450 companies from over 20 product sectors with about 800 brands that end up on the tables of Italians – “ten years after the approval of the law that regulates the IV range sector, it is necessary to modernize the law so that it is increasingly in step with the new market and consumer needs “.