MILAN, Italy – One of the most lively sectors of the Italian food & beverage market, with approximately 600 industrial companies involved at production level, plus at least 100 others of a semi-industrial nature and a total specialized workforce of around 7,000: this is coffee – “black gold” – the world’s most widely consumed beverage.
According to figures announced by the Comitato Italiano Caffè (CIC), presented this week on the occasion of the World of Coffee press conference, in Italy, while on one hand there has been a slight drop in consumption, on the other there has been an increase in exports, a sign that Italian-made food & beverage products are still among the country’s strong points and that there is increasing worldwide recognition of the excellent work done by Italy’s master coffee roasters when processing a raw material that arrives from afar.
Approximately 4/5 of the coffee imported to Italy ready for processing comes from 5 coffee producing countries: Brazil, Vietnam, India, Uganda and Indonesia.
In 2013, coffee export from Italy increased by 7.18% compared to the previous year, with a significant rise, in particular, in roasted coffee (10.23%).
The main destinations of Italian roasted coffee are the European community countries, which absorb over 60% of the total. Non-EU countries with significant shares include Switzerland, USA, Australia, Russia and Canada.
In terms of consumption Italy is in tenth position (5.63 kg/per capita). The rankings are led by Luxemburg, followed by Finland and Austria.
Strangely, Italy has an average coffee consumption that is above the European average (4.82 kg/per-capita), but is lower than many countries, concentrated particularly in northern and central European areas
In fact, along with Greece (5.69 kg/per capita), Italy is the only country in the Mediterranean area that is “virtuously” positioned in the rankings’ top ten.
Nevertheless, coffee consumption in 2013 dropped slightly (1.20%), due to the crisis that hit the country, but the figures show however that the beverage is still a pleasure Italians cannot do without.
On the domestic market, although moka pot coffee is still the most important, accounting for 95% of the total, in recent years single-serve coffee, i.e. capsules and pods, has been the area with the highest growth and innovation on the coffee market.
In fact, in super- and hypermarkets the single-serve market totals 325 million pods sold annually and is growing year by year at double-digit rates, of over 20%, the clear sign of a trend in the beverage’s consumption methods, which takes its place alongside the traditional one.
Sources: Nielsen, Adnkronos.
World of Coffee 2014 at a glance
- dates: from June 10th to 12th 2014
- admission: limited to trade members only; tickets: 30 euros (if purchased after 17th May and/or during the expo), 20 euros (if purchased before), valid for all three days of the expo; 1-day ticket 20 euros (if purchased after 17th March and/or during the expo), 10 euros (if purchased before)
- hours: from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm; www.worldofcoffee-rimini.com.
