Confindustria fed many associations that most of the public never hears of; then we mention the ANCIT (National Association of Fish and Tuna Fish Preservers) which has just turned 60 years old. It is an important sector of Made in Italy, less conspicuous than cured meats, cheeses and wine, but rich in typical products: home-grown tuna, mackerel, sardines, anchovies and canned salmon enjoy a reputation also abroad. The Italian canned fish market exceeded 2 billion euros in 2020.
In particular, canned tuna is consumed by all Italians (99%) and 36% consume it 2-3 times a week; this single product in 2020 had a market value in Italy of over 1.40 billion euros, with a national production of 80,300 tons and a consumption of 160,000 (about 2.67 kg per capita).
Sources from Ancit note that “if we compare the data with those of 2011, the national market value of canned tuna increased by 31.3%, Italian production by 18%, per capita consumption by 17.4% and imports of 12.5%. Data that confirm Italy as one of the most important markets in the world for the consumption of this food and as the second European producer after Spain ».
The rest of the canning sector (anchovies, mackerel, canned salmon, sardines) had a turnover of around 405 million in 2020; if we add specialties and smoked salmon to this and tuna, the total value of the fish canning sector exceeds the 2 billion euros we mentioned above.
But it is the figure of Italian exports of canned tuna that records the greatest performance, underlines Ancit: “In the last 10 years, the quantities of canned tuna shipped abroad have more than doubled (+ 122%), reaching a total of 30,500 tons for a value of over 200 million euros “. Exports, the association explains, mainly concern EU countries (Germany, Greece, Czech Republic, Slovenia) but also third countries, primarily Canada, beneficiary of the CETA Agreement, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but also Israel. The positive trend is also confirmed by the acceleration in the half-year January-June 2021 (+ 13.5% in quantity) compared to the same period of 2020, which if confirmed in the second half of the year would bring exports to 35,000 tons with an increase of the value of 10% (Source: Ancit elaborations on Istat data). These numbers underlines the association, “rewarding the ability to do everything Made in Italy”.