That what is stolen most often at the supermarket? They occupy the podium wine and other spirits, cured meats, cheeses, canned tuna and coffee: these are the products that disappear most easily from the shelves. To tell it is Coldiretti based on the study “The Security of Retail in Italy” realized by Crime&Techa spin off of the Catholic University, which analyzes a period from January 2021 to September 2023.
Il shopliftingi.e. the theft of goods displayed for sale in commercial establishments, is the main cause of external thefts for the sector, and causes the greatest shrinkage differences: overall, in retail and large-scale distribution companies in Italy, in 2022 there were equal to ‘1.38% of annual turnover, with Estimated losses of around 4.6 billion euros.
Il average value of the stolen goods for each individual case is 14 euros and the small hit is scored above all for mid-week shopping (Wednesday or Thursday), while those responsible are more men (56%) than women (44%). The target is often pre-portioned formats and small-sized packages, but theft of pre-sliced and pre-grated products is also increasing: most of the products on display are not protected, with the only exception being the bottles of more valuable wines and bubbles, which they have the anti-theft capsule, but traders are increasingly turning their attention to the development of new technologies for the security of goods.
In Italy, the table is an important component of the family budget: it absorbs around 18% of the total, with an average monthly value per family of 482 euros (Coldiretti analysis on ISTAT 2022 data). Less than one euro in five is spent on food and inflation does not help in this sense, also because at the same time there has been an increase in the incidence of other expenditure items such as housing, clothing, transport and communications.
In 2022, the shopping cart of Italian families saw an increase compared to the previous year for some categories such as meat, olive oil, sugar and sweets, while fruit and vegetables, bread and pasta, fish, milk and cheese decreased. The heaviest item remains that of meat and cured meats, for which 104 euros are spent monthly, ahead of pasta, pizza, bread and cereals (76 euros); in third place is vegetables with 61 euros. This is followed by milk, cheese and eggs, at 58 euros, and fruit at 41 euros, just ahead of fish, at 38 euros. Then in the ranking there are ready-made foods with 30 euros, sugar and sweets with 21 euros, olive oil together with butter and other condiments with 15 euros, as well as coffee, mineral water and soft drinks.