Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the figures of Italian food exports in the first five months of 2020 show an excellent performance for both industrial and agricultural products.
According to Federalimentare data, the Italian food industry exports in the period January-May 2020 grew by +3% (+7.2% in the first four months, +9.4% in the first quarter and +8% in the first two months) compared to the same period of 2019. Primary exports fell by -0.2% (+0.4% in the first four months, +2.7% in the first quarter and +8.2% in the first two-months). Agri-food exports grew by +2.4% (+5.8% in the first four months and +8% in the first quarter).
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ITALIAN FOOD EXPORTS FUTURE CHALLENGES
“There are two bets we must win” – says the president of Federalimentare, Ivano Vacondio, on the sidelines of Cibus Forum. “The first one is that of exports, which have long been the only driver of development in the Italian food industry. They also depend to a large extent on the containment of the contagion in our top export destination markets and therefore on their economic recovery. As for Horeca, we must do much more. For the catering sector, the measures allocated so far are in fact not sufficient. We need at least 1.5 billion euros if we want to keep the horeca and food and wine tourism going. Such investments would result in positive output for the whole chain, from producers to final consumers, and therefore for Italy’s internal consumption.”
“Once again – adds Vacondio – the Italian food industry, after proving fundamental in the period closely linked to the emergency, can still act as an economic driving force and quickly return to pre-crisis levels. I am optimistic about the government’s support for this sector. If this support will be strong, by the end of next year the Italian food industry will once again be the driving force behind the country’s economy” – the president of Federalimentare says.