In the last decade, Italian food companies have been able to conquer ever more significant spaces on international markets, leading exports to reach record levels.
Attention to foreign markets is a recent phenomenon for the Italian food and beverage industry; only in the last decade have companies pushed decisively beyond the border, managing to increase exports to a greater extent than the other sectors included in the report "Analysis of industrial sectors": +70% cumulative growth between 2006 and 2015, at compared with +26% of the total industry. In 2015, the value of foreign sales exceeded the record threshold of 30 billion euros, up 6.6% on the previous year. However, the share of exports on turnover (equal to 24%) remains lower than that of the main European competitors, discounting - in addition to the constraints imposed by the presence of customs duties and barriers - the difficulties of the many small companies active in the sector in entering international markets .
Analyzing the individual micro-sectors, the role of Made in Italy food ambassador on markets around the world belongs to wine, which boasts a propensity to export significantly higher than the average of the entire manufacturing sector: over 73.5% of the sector's turnover is in fact made on foreign markets. After wine there are other typical products of the Mediterranean diet: pasta and vegetable preserves (respectively in second and third place), followed by cured meats and cheeses. Supporting positions, but in any case showing strong growth in recent years, are ready-to-eat and dietetic meals, sweets and coffee, with an export propensity between 30% and 40%.
However, there is still a long way to go. Currently, the average kilometers traveled by Italian food products are slightly over 2500, 500 less than the manufacturing average, a consequence of a strong orientation of exports towards European countries which absorb 2/3 of the sector's foreign sales. In line with national manufacturing, the markets in the NAFTA area play a very important role (in strong growth, especially in recent years), while Italian companies are still relatively small in emerging markets. The strong acceleration of exports to the Asian area in the last decade has made it possible to only partially fill the gap with international competitors.
The maturity of the internal market and the sharp intensification of competition, resulting from the aggressive pricing policies adopted by the large-scale retail trade, and the ever more stringent budget constraints for many Italian families will force the national food industry to entrust its hopes of growth in the coming years to exports . For high quality products with a strong territorial characterization, the development opportunities on foreign markets appear significant, as evidenced by the strong tone of exports in recent years. In terms of corporate strategy, this will mean enhancing the distinctive elements and increasing the degree of specialization, in order to adapt the offer to the lifestyle of foreign customers. Italy's results will depend on the ability of companies to exploit every lever to spread Italian food culture and tradition, communicating the advantages it offers in terms of quality and health, even in geographically and culturally more distant markets.
According to Prometeia forecasts, exports from the Italian food and beverage industry could grow by 22% over the next 5 years, reaching nearly 37 billion euros in 2020. However, a more substantial acceleration cannot be ruled out if our companies are able to bridging the delay that characterizes them, also given the small size of many operators, in the distribution phase, one of the main factors underlying the gap with European competitors.
In this sense, something is also moving within the Italian large-scale distribution, with some important players who are starting to appear in markets with high potential (emerging and otherwise). The presence of Italian distribution brands abroad will make it easier for our companies to choose how to enter foreign markets, a crucial element especially in emerging countries, characterized by complex, fragmented distribution systems dominated by local operators, often not in able to correctly convey the characteristics of Made in Italy products.
