Highlighting the industry’s strategic value, Unione Italiana Food’s annual report confirms its 530 companies—which provide 100,000 jobs and are worth €58 billion—now drive 40% of Italy’s total food exports, as strong international demand for pasta, coffee, and confectionery compensates for domestic pressures.
“We are living in complex times, but we must not lose sight of confidence and a vision for the future. In the last three years, the loss of purchasing power and inflationary pressure have also impacted food consumption, pushing consumers towards savings-oriented choices and reducing added value. As a food industry, we have a task that goes beyond producing food: we support territories and communities, we nourish people but also their emotions and the relationships that a shared meal ignites. It is no coincidence that a few years ago, during another particularly difficult moment, Italians started from the quality of industrial products to rebuild their lost normality,” stated Paolo Barilla, President of Unione Italiana Food, on the occasion of the VII annual meeting of Unione Italiana Food, held in Pollenzo.
“We are proud of our ‘industry‘ status and want everyone to know what lies behind this term, which some view reductively. It is our know-how that translates into industriousness, daily commitment, continuous improvement, and innovation. The world recognizes and appreciates this dedication to quality, which we translate into products with high service value that are safe, sustainable, and accessible,” concluded Barilla.
The choice of the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo to present the results and future vision of Unione Italiana Food is highly symbolic: here, business and culture, tradition and research, industry and education meet. Unione Italiana Food is a Strategic Partner of the “University of Taste,” supporting a series of initiatives that promote the identity and quality of Italian food worldwide and underscore the commitment to cultivating a conscious food industry, rooted in the territory and determined to project the know-how of Italian food entrepreneurs into the future.
The 2024 results demonstrate this confidence: turnover grew to €58 billion (+2.6%), of which €23 billion (40%) came from exports (+11.4% over 2023). Over 500 companies provide jobs for 100,000 people and invest €3 billion annually to innovate, improve, and make supply chains, processes, and products more sustainable, meet consumer needs, and anticipate new market trends.
Even in a historical moment marked by global instability, unprecedented economic and social challenges, and, at a national level, a reduction in the purchasing power of Italians, the “slice” of the food industry represented by Unione Italiana Food continues to be one of the most vital forces of “Made in Italy.” This is what emerges from the Association’s Annual Report, which chronicles its commitment to bringing quality, safe, high-value-added, sustainable, and accessible food to Italian tables.
The snapshot taken by Unione Italiana Food shows the state of health of 24 product categories and 900 brands that are symbols of Made in Italy. To name just a few: pasta, sweets, coffee, sauces and ready-made sauces, frozen foods, products in oil and pickles, and ready-made vegetables and soups, with a distinctive imprint of taste, safety, innovation, and sustainability.
These products represent the mix of identity and innovation that has always characterized the Italian food sector, whose trends today provide a faithful cross-section of Italian spending. The basket of products represented by Unione Italiana Food consists of “traditional” products (pasta, seasonal leavened cakes, chocolate, coffee, tea and infusions, etc.) which remain a significant slice, about 50%, of the total turnover, while the so-called “evolved traditional” (coffee pods, frozen foods, ready-to-eat fresh-cut vegetables, sauces and ready meals, new confectionery products, etc.) now represents 30% by value.
“Innovative products” account for 20%; these are foods and beverages with a high level of service that meet the demands of increasingly discerning consumers regarding the preservation and preparation of dishes and nutritional and health aspects (light foods, food supplements, products for specific categories such as celiacs or diabetics, etc.).
24 Italian Food Categories: The Most Strategic and Top-Performing Ones
In detail, despite an uncertain climate, last year the sectors of Unione Italiana Food showed signs of moderate growth, with exports being the true engine of development. Pasta, with over 4 million tons produced (+5% in volume) and an export share of 58%, confirms Italy’s global leadership. The confectionery sector is worth almost €19 billion (+2.5% compared to the previous year) and compensates for the contraction in domestic consumption with exports. Frozen foods (€5.7 billion, +1.8% on 2023) and coffee (€4.7 billion, +8.5% on the previous year) are growing. Plant-based products are stable (worth €4.8 billion) with a peak for fresh-cut produce—that is, fresh, washed, and ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables, or creamy soups, soups, and ready-made soups—reflecting current dietary habits geared towards convenience, freshness, and waste reduction.
The growth of the food preparations sector (€5.3 billion, +5.1% on 2023) also shows the Italian preference for premium products (broths, soups, sauces, and ready-made sauces) that combine convenience and taste. Speaking of innovation, the food supplements sector also recorded excellent values (€4.9 billion) but with more marked growth (+5.9%), with peaks for probiotics, mineral salts, and supplements for insomnia and mental well-being.
Paolo Barilla: The Future of Italian Food? Good, Healthy, and Fair
The President of Unione Italiana Food, Paolo Barilla, also stated: “Ours is an industry that combines tradition and innovation, that has carried Italian artisanal knowledge into the future, and that invests in technology, exports, health, and sustainability.” He then concluded: “Our future depends on our ability to produce value for the Italian and global consumer, for companies, and for Italy. And this value is called quality, which the consumer recognizes in their purchases.”
Unione Italiana Food Exports 40% of the Food Industry’s Total. Positive Outlook but Tariffs Remain a Concern
30 billion plates of pasta, 56 billion cups of coffee, almost 1 billion kg of biscuits, rusks, crackers, and cakes like pandoro, panettone, and colomba. And 4 billion chocolate-based products. Exports in 2024 from the sectors represented by the Association recorded extraordinary results: reaching nearly €23 billion (+11% in value), they represent 40% of the total food sector exports for 2024. Germany, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Poland, attracted by the quality and authenticity of the Italian gastronomic tradition, are confirmed as the main destination markets. Meanwhile, Asia, Northern Europe, and the Middle East represent new opportunities for health-focused and plant-based products.
The issue with the USA remains open, with tariffs that could curb exports to the top non-EU market. “For 2025 we expect a rebound, but we will not return to the values of 2023, when growth was over 6%,” says Carmine Garzia, Professor of Management and scientific head of the Food Industry Monitor Observatory at the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo. “The outlook for 2025 is positive, but it will certainly need to be revised downwards if customs duties are activated. What is happening should make us seriously reflect on the opportunity for Italian companies in the food sector to strongly accelerate their internationalization strategies, with foreign direct investments that require both financial resources and managerial skills,” adds Garzia.