Organic continues to grow. That Made in Italy is flying abroad, but is slowing down in domestic consumption. The scenario is analyzed in the Bio Bank 2022 report (the organic database since 1993), which also publishes a focus on Supermarkets and Specialized. (1)
Bio Bank 2022 report, the numbers in Italy
Data compiled by Bio Bank 2022 illustrate a scenario characterized by a good propulsion of the Italian organic system, driven byexports (3.4 bn, +16%) but declining in domestic consumption (3.9 bn, +1.8% over 2021). The data, however, are net of the ‘underground,’ that is, of uncertified organic production, almost always due to difficulties of small operators in bearing the cost.
Good recovery in organic food consumption outside the home. After the collapse following the pandemic, they reach a value of 1.1 bn, +53% over 2021.
The all-too-modest trend nevertheless marks an advance that is bound to grow. In fact, compared with 10 years ago, domestic consumption has grown by 95 percent, out-of-home consumption by 258 percent and exports by 168 percent, attest Nomisma data for Osservatorio Sana.
The boom of foodecommerce
The three organic food sales channels monitored by Bio Bank have remained unchanged, overall, over the past 5 years. 2,364 units, +1.2% in 2022. But the performances are very different:
- ecommerce soars with +80.2 percent. The 620 organic food websites surveyed in 2021 are driven primarily by manufacturers who thereby consolidate the advance registered during the pandemic and skip the distributor, retaining more revenue,
- organic restaurants decrease by -9.4 percent to 504 establishments, partly due to the drastic restrictions dictated by the pandemic. In out-of-home consumption, however, they participate along with bars in supporting domestic consumption, as recently noted by ISMEA, (2)
- specialty stores are further reduced to 1,240 stores (-13.7 percent). The already declining sector is being impacted by the merger of chains, with the move of Cuorebio to Naturasì, as well as competition from supermarkets and discount stores.
The locomotive of Italian bio
Within Europe, Italy ranks first in exports and in the number of processing companies, more than 22,000 out of more than 84,000, one in four.
It is then again ranked first in number of agricultural producers , third in retail sales and agricultural area, and fifth in share of organic area in total Sau. Share that was at 16.6 percent in 2020, rising to 17.4 percent in 2021, compared with an average of 9.6 percent in the European Union.
Italy’s organic locomotive is represented by 5 regions, among which Emilia-Romagna excels:
- Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto remain leaders in absolute number of organic businesses,
- Marche, Trentino-Alto Adige and Emilia-Romagna lead the way in terms of activity density.
Organic on the wings of large-scale retail
Retail is the ideal channel to bring new consumers to organic, as well as to supply regular consumers struggling with high prices (inflation is at 8.1 percent). This channel does not usually shine in the variety of its offerings (except for Coop Italia, as we shall see), but it excels in price containment, an essential element to the democratization of organic, understood as accessibility to a wider audience than just high-income groups. (3)
In super and hypermarkets, after all, sales have almost quadrupled (+263%) in ten years, while in specialty stores they have decreased by 15%.
The 26 chains
retail
monitored by Bio Bank 2022’s Supermarket and Specialty Focus now offer more than 22 thousand foods and beverages. More than 6 thousand of which are offered underprivate label in more than 24 thousand outlets in Italy. (4)
The advance of the private label
Private label organic continues to gain market share at the expense of industry brands and the 1,240 specialty stores, where the supply is also wide in fresh and ultra-fresh, but prices remain high.
Coop Italia was the first retail store to offer organic fruit and vegetables under the supplier’s brand name, back in 1992, with an increasingly rich assortment that keeps it in first place for the number of organic references (1,050 products).
In contrast, Esselunga (among the 6 chains that reduced organic assortment in 2021) was the first retailer to introduce organic under its own brand, in 1999, followed the next year by Coop Italia, followed by Conad Carrefour and PAM. And in 2021 it is the turn of CRAI, Despar and Selex.
In Italian discounters, however, organic arrived in 2002 thanks to Todis, followed in 2009 by Lidl. And since then 13 more large-scale retail chains have been added, up to the 23 surveyed in 2021.
Marta Strinati
Notes
(1) Bio Bank Report 2022 https://issuu.com/biobank/docs/rapporto_bio_bank_2022
(2) Marta Strinati. HoReCa Italy, organic in one out of two bars and two out of three restaurants. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 29.5.23
(3) Dario Dongo. The democratization of organic. If you treat me like a chicken, I’ll send you to the cow. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 15.4.17
(4) Focus Bio Bank 2022 Supermarkets & Specialty Stores. https://issuu.com/biobank/docs/focus_bio_bank_supermercati_2022
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
