Made in Italy agri-food is increasingly a driving force for the economy of the Bel Paese. Italian companies in the food-beverage sector are increasingly a strong point of the Italian economy, with 227 companies in the sector recording a turnover of more than 50 million euros, a number which places the sector in second place in the ranking of all sectors industrial, immediately after mechanics, but before textiles-clothing-shoes, telematics, chemical-pharmaceuticals, energy.
In the past three years, their turnover increased by 10,8% and the net operating margin of 12,9%, against financial debts increased by 4,4% and employees by 3,6%. This is what emerges from the second edition of the analysis of the financial statements of food and beverage companies in Italy, carried out by the CoMar Study Center.
The strengths are the quality and safety of the productions, synergies of the supply chains, intangible values, attention to the territory, which guarantee excellence, also recognized internationally. Further development and top positions in world competition, however, are hampered by traditional ownership structures, exports lower than expected, scarce automation and consequent costs of manufacturing processes, insufficient recourse to advanced financial instruments, reduced added value per unit of product, unsurpassed difficulties in contrasting the Italian sounding.
Secondo the CoMar studio, the total turnover of the Italian agri-food companies was 78,5 billion euros; an increase of 4,1 billion (+5,5%) compared to 74,4 in 2016; and 7,6 billion compared to 70,8 in 2015 (+10,8%); the net operating margin was 4,3 billion euros; also up, by 5,5%, or by 228 million, on the 4,1 billion mon in 2016 and by 12,9% compared to the 3,8 billion in 2015; these values determined, as a percentage, the trend of the ratio between net operating margin and turnover, substantially stable, going from 5,4% in 2015 to 5,5% in 2017 (data identical to 2016). Again, employees have grown, from 157.039 in 2015 to 162.669 at the end of 2017 (+3,6%), an increase of 5.630 units in the three years; the turnover per employee was 162.669 euros in 2017, an increase compared to 159.673 in 2016 and 157.039 in 2015; financial debts, between 2016 and 2017, increased by 2,3%%, growing by 404,7 million, from 18,9 to 19,3 billion euro; the total stock is up by 4,4% on the 18,5 billion of 2015; there are 10 listed companies in the sector.
For rankings of individual companies examined in the CoMar study, again with reference to the 2017 financial statements, in the top ten places by turnover, there are nine companies with Italian ownership (15 out of the top 20); the major companies, also Italian, but of foreign ownership derivation are Parmalat (1), Nestle' (11), Lactalis Italia (12), Sanpellegrino (14), Coca-Cola Hbc (16); the companies with the best mon/turnover ratio are Branca International, Palazzo Antinori, Ferrero, Compagnia De' Frescobaldi, Sanpellegrino, Davide Campari-Milan; the companies with the best turnover per employee ratio are Ferrero, Fileni Simar, Casillo Partecipazioni, Apo Conerpo, Cereal Docks.
Compared to other sectors of the Italian industry, the food and beverage sector it is characterized by prevalent ownership structures of families or cooperatives; and consequent reduced foreign presence (overall, one cannot speak of "colonization", even if some historic and well-known brands have passed into foreign hands); reduced presence on the Stock Exchange, compared to potential; export projection, substantially equivalent to a quarter of total revenues; further improveable; return on capital still limited, albeit permanently positive; as factors of production, still labor intensive.
