The Italian gastronomy needs no introduction, so the desire for good, high-quality ingredients is innate to Italians. Enter frozen food, where today’s freezing technologies allow the enjoyment of produce year-round. So, unsurprisingly, data shows that vegetables top the list of best-selling categories in the region.
The first data collected in Italy – relating to the retail channel only – highlight that in 2023 the frozen products sector confirmed its solidity by recording a substantial stability in consumption within the home, which reached 645 thousand tons.
An encouraging figure (while awaiting the definitive numbers, which will include consumption outside the home and will be communicated as in the usual annual consumption report produced by IIAS), especially when compared to 2019 (last year before the Covid-19 pandemic), when the consumption of frozen food stood at 589 thousand tons. In the following years, domestic consumption of frozen foods grew at an unprecedented rate, before stabilizing at high levels. This data comes from the IIAS – Italian Institute of Frozen Food.
In percentage terms, the 2023 Retail data show an increase in volume of the frozen sector of +9.4% on 2019 domestic consumption. Compared to 2022, there is a live decline of -1.2%, widely expected after years of growth record, which will be largely counterbalanced by the simultaneous increase in out-of-home consumption, after the strong decreases recorded by this channel in the years of the pandemic.
“2023 was a year with many difficulties: from the problems with the supply of raw materials, recorded in the first months of the year and caused by extreme climatic events (such as drought), to the notable critical issues encountered by logistics and transport at global, until inflation continues, especially in the food sector”, comments Giorgio Donegani, president of IIAS. “Despite this context, the sector has shown solid stability, confirming how frozen foods have steadily become an integral part of Italians’ shopping carts”.
Veggies are bestsellers
According to IIAS, vegetables are confirmed as the best-selling frozen food category, with 215,695 tons consumed in 2023 (+1.1% compared to 213,345 in 2019) and are confirmed as a valid ally of those who look to well-being and high nutritional contents, but also of those who are inclined to choose more and more plant-based proteins.
In second place were potatoes, with 110,532 tons, which recorded the most significant growth in numerical terms: +35.8% on 2019 (81,393 tons) for a product loved both for its taste and for its ease of preparation. In third place was frozen fish (natural and breaded), which reached 92,372 tons (+2.25% compared to 90,335 in 2019).
Appreciated by consumers because it is safe, healthy, nutritious, always available, easy to prepare and transparent in the information on the packaging. Finally, it is worth highlighting the boom achieved by frozen ready meals, with a growth trend in domestic consumption (+34.3% between 2019 and 2023). The high quality of the ingredients, the traditional but also innovative recipes, the speed of preparation and the attention to nutritional balance are some of the factors that have made this category the best response to the new lifestyles of Italian families, IIAS states.
To read the entire article, please access your complimentary e-copy of Frozen Food Europe May-June, 2024 issue here.