Encouraging signals are coming from export data of Italian dairy products in the first quarter of 2021. Starting with a break-even compared to 2020 (+0.1%) and an increase in volumes sold (+1.1%).
This is what emerges from the elaborations of Alleanza Cooperative Agroalimentari on export data, about the first quarter of 2021, published by Istat.
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Once again, the European market tips the balance of Italian exports. In March alone sales of Italian dairy products in EU countries increased by +22%, reaching almost 200 million euros in just one month. This performance has offset the losses of January and February, bringing the cumulative figure for the first quarter to +4.9% in volume and +2.8% in value compared to 2020.
Italian cheeses exports in the first quarter of 2021 in value (€)
| Countries | Jan.-Mar. 2020 | Jan.-Mar. 2021 | Var. % 2021-2020 |
| UK | 67,530,739 | 57,103,244 | -15.4% |
| France | 123,732,976 | 135,611,166 | +9.6% |
| USA | 81,584,085 | 73,039,403 | -10.5% |
| Japan | 22,515,830 | 15,321,173 | -32% |
| China | 3,124,986 | 8,126,377 | +160% |
| EU | 478,489,133 | 492,035,762 | +2.8% |
| World | 755,775,505 | 756,301,258 | 0.1% |
“This is a reversal of the trend compared to the beginning of the year – says the coordinator of the dairy sector of Alleanza Cooperative Agroalimentari, Giovanni Guarneri – which bodes well for the summer months, also considering a gradual and progressive reopening of the Ho.Re.Ca. channel in many foreign countries.”
ITALIAN DAIRY PRODUCTS SALES IN NON-EU MARKETS
On non-EU markets, Italian cheeses exports continued to drop in the UK (-15.4% in value compared to the first quarter of 2020), and Japan (-32%). In the USA, on the other hand, exports grew slightly in March, reducing the negative cumulative figure for the quarter (-10.5%). Record increases in China, where value sales almost tripled in the first quarter of 2020.
CHEESES SALES BY PRODUCT
In terms of product categories, export sales of fresh cheeses (especially mascarpone and mozzarella) and Provolone Valpadana PDO increased. All other products’ dropped, although with smaller variations compared to the January-February 2021 period. In March, in fact, exports of almost all the products surveyed increased by double digits: among these, Pecorino (+31%), Gorgonzola PDO (+19%), Grana Padano PDO and Parmigiano Reggiano PDO (+13%).