In thirty years the industry has halved the use of water and in the past ten years it has reached a high level of energy efficiency, lowering consumption by 20%, reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 30% and optimised packaging, reducing the use of raw materials by 40%.
“The Expo is a valuable occasion to demonstrate the contribution that our companies and products can offer the world.” This was the statement from Luigi Scordamaglia, president of Federalimentare, the Confindustria federation that unites Italian food producer associations, at the ‘Fab Food. Italian taste factory’ presentation. The exhibition is dedicated to sustainable industrial food supply and was curated by the National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan; it will be exhibited by Confindustria in the Italian Pavilion during Expo 2015.
“The Italian food industry, which works alongside agriculture to reduce environmental impact, has halved the use of water in thirty years and in just ten has reached a high level of energy efficiency, lowering consumption by 20%, reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 30% and optimised packaging, reducing the use of raw materials by 40%”, explained Scordamaglia.
“Italy’s food industry is number one in Europe in terms of typical produce and the quantity and severity of process controls”, Scordamaglia reminded the public. “Producers invest 2% of turnover annually, approximately 2.6 million euros, to guarantee the safety and quality of the food products that end up on consumers’ tables. Ten million euros (8% of turnover) are dedicated to research, development and innovation, while 1.6% goes to innovation of processes and products. As well as this, the industry is committed to working with institutions to promote correct consumption models”, continued the Federalimentare president. “In five years, the Italian industry has improved the nutritional profile of over 4,000 products. The sector helps consumers to make conscious choices, anticipated compulsory labelling and uses responsible marketing and communication campaigns, which protect children above all. It promotes nutritional education in schools and at home.”
For Federalimentare, the technology and know-how of the Italian food industry combined with the structure of the supply chain offer non-standard and ‘made to measure’ models that can rise to the ‘Feed the planet, Energy for life’ challenge faced by many developing countries. “In this sense, Expo represents a unique opportunity for decisive and engaging promotion of the contribution that our companies and products can make to development”, Scordamaglia concludes.