Market overview

Italy offers opportunities in chilled private label and ethnic food in particular. Find out more about the market here.

Opportunities

• The market for private label in Italy is small, accounting for around 10% of total grocery sales. However, this sector is growing steadily and chains are increasingly looking at private label products as a genuine alternative to other market competitors.
• The ethnic food market, although small, is growing fast as immigration increases and Italians discover the culinary traditions of other nations.
• There is dramatic growth in the refrigerated area of the supermarket shelf and the logistics systems are rapidly changing to facilitate the distribution of products with short shelf life.

Market background

• Population: 58.4 million (2005)
• GDP: £16,616.95 per head (2005)
• Unemployment rate: 7.94% (2005)
• Inflation: 1.99% (2005)
• Consumer expenditure on food and non-alcoholic drinks: £1,370.79 per head (2005)

Trade environment

• Total food and drink imports to the market: £16.4 billion (2005)
• UK food and drink exports to the market: £358.6 million in 2005 (-4%)
• UK share of imports: approximately 3.1%

Top five retailers by market share (2005)

1	Coop Italia	17.1%
2	Carrefour Italia	10.4%
3	Auchan	9.6%
4	Conad	9.6%
5	Esselunga	8.3%