He has a high level of education, a medium-high income, children under 12, loves to travel, has been to Italy at least once and seeks the added value of the DOP brand as a guarantee of high quality. This is the identikit of the typical consumer of buffalo mozzarella from Campania Dop in France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, drawn up by the study carried out by Nomisma for the Consortium for the Protection of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana Dop.
«The objective of the commissioned survey was to understand the positioning of the product in the main European countries immediately after the acute phase of the pandemic. We asked to analyze the consumer’s perception, notoriety and propensity to buy », explains the director of the Protection Consortium, Pier Maria Saccani.
The results confirm the international appeal of Bufala PDO, with significant growth potential, as pointed out by the manager of the agri-food sector of Nomisma and author of the survey, Denis Pantini: “Considering the GDP growth forecasts estimated by the European Commission for the two-year period 2021-22 (+ 4.2% in 2021 and + 4.4% in 2022) an increase in average incomes and in the number of families belonging to the middle-upper class is expected, especially in the target countries of the study. The market prospects for Mozzarella di Bufala PDO, therefore, can only be positive. Even the greater diffusion of consumers of Mozzarella PDO between Generation Z, Millennials, and Generation X represents a guarantee of continuity for future sales, with further growth prospects ».
The research was presented by the Consortium as a preview at the Festival of Food Journalism in Turin at the headquarters of the Circolo dei Lettore, during the panel entitled “The Made in Italy that Europe likes: the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana Dop case”.
“The countries taken into consideration are also the main markets for the export of Buffalo Buffalo, which in 2020 reached 37%, equal to almost 20 thousand tons of product, marking a + 9.7% compared to 2019”, comments the director Saccani.
Abroad, the DOP brand mozzarella represents a synonym of higher quality for consumers: in a comparison between the users of the 4 target markets, the percentage of those who declare the DOP product superior for quality compared to non-DOP goes from 60% in the case of the United Kingdom and Germany up to 80% in France and Spain.
The analysis also reveals important indications for the future: «First of all, consumers are asking for ever greater attention to sustainability, understood both as environmental protection and as animal welfare. This attention represents one of the main legacies left by Covid worldwide. Even before the pandemic, consumer sensitivity towards these aspects was growing, but now it is becoming a sine qua non ”, says Pantini. And the Consortium is already working on a large project on animal welfare in collaboration with agricultural organizations, associations and trade bodies.
The studio also photographs the performance of Italy in Europe more generally. The Belpaese, together with France, is in first place among the countries that produce the highest quality cheeses according to European consumers. But compared to its direct competitors, Italy boasts the highest average export price: 6.9 euros / kg against 3.2 euros / kg in Germany, 4 euros / kg in the Netherlands and the Netherlands and 4.6 euros. / Kg of France. «This derives from the important role that PDO products have in our Made in Italy food basket. In the case of cheeses, just think that the production value of Italian geographical indications exceeds 4.5 billion euros compared to 2.4 billion for the French ones », concludes Pantini.