Health-led demand supports fresh food despite inflation
Volume sales of fresh food in Italy increased in 2025, although growth slowed, while current value kept rising as input, logistics and energy costs held unit prices at elevated levels. Consumers stayed cost conscious and traded down within proteins, supporting eggs, nuts, fish and seafood, and poultry, while red meat lost frequency as health and sustainability concerns persisted. Demand for local and seasonal produce remained strong, but climate volatility continued to disrupt supply and pricing in fruits and vegetables, reinforcing sensitivity to affordability and availability. Over the forecast period, volume sales of fresh food are set to rise steadily, led by nuts, eggs, cranberries/blueberries and sweet potatoes, while lamb and sugar and sweeteners are expected to decline and climate-related shocks are likely to keep price volatility high.
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Overview:
Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Fresh Food industry in Italy with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
Key trends are clearly and succinctly summarised alongside the most current research data available. Understand and assess competitive threats and plan corporate strategy with our qualitative analysis, insight and confident growth projections.
Data and analysis in this report provides further detailed coverage dedicated to the following key categories, where applicable:
- Eggs
- Fish and Seafood
- Fruits
- Meat
- Nuts
- Pulses
- Starchy Roots
- Sugar and Sweeteners
- Vegetables
If you're in the Fresh Food industry in Italy, our research will help you to make informed, intelligent decisions; to recognise and profit from opportunity, or to offer resilience amidst market uncertainty.
The Fresh Food in Italy report includes:
- Analysis of key supply-side and demand trends
- Detailed segmentation of international and local products
- Historic volume and value sizes
- Five year forecasts of market trends and market growth
- Robust and transparent research methodology, conducted in-country
This report answers:
- What is the market size of Fresh Food in Italy?
- What is the impact of commodity price fluctuations on local production and consumption?
- What are the key campaigns or legislation driving Fresh Food sales?
- How are consumer attitudes towards fresh food evolving?
- How significant is health and wellness in shaping consumer demand?
- Where is future growth expected to be most dynamic?
Fresh Food in Italy
Health-led demand supports fresh food despite inflation
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Flat volume growth recorded with shift towards high-protein, nutritious and sustainable options
Cost-conscious consumers continue to trade down amid rising threat from processed alternatives and climate volatility
Health focus will see nuts, eggs and sweet potatoes drive overall growth amid persistent climate-related challenges
Wellness concerns favour fresh food despite packaged threat
Italians maintain habit of shopping at neighbourhood stores
Discounters channel benefits from favourable pricing and increased focus on sustainability
COUNTRY REPORTS DISCLAIMER
Eggs in Italy
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Affordability anchors demand as welfare standards rise
Eggs continues to benefit from staple nature and affordability
Animal welfare concerns drive development
Traceability and clean labelling to come to the fore
Possible obstacles to stronger growth include rising costs though marketing and innovation should bolster sales
Fish and Seafood in Italy
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Price stability and variety lift fish and seafood demand
Fish rises through healthy profile in 2025
Sustainable sourcing as key concern
Further growth forecast for fresh fish and seafood despite competitive challenge from processed variants
Invasion of blue crabs threatens local production
Fruits in Italy
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Rising costs and weather shocks keep fruit growth muted
Fruits sees only marginal volume growth thanks to rising costs
Cherries falls as prices surge, while bananas benefits from convenience and affordability
Health trends will support sales in fruits despite persistent challenges, as players invest more in sustainability
Italians show increased interested in novel and exotic fruits
Meat in Italy
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Affordability and ethics reshape meat demand in 2025
Poultry drives growth as red meat falls in 2025
Sustainability and animal welfare undermine appeal of red meat
Poultry will continue to drive growth amid persistent shift away from red meat
Premiumisation trend to be pushed by demand for organic and sustainable options
Nuts in Italy
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Supply inflation tests pricing, but demand holds up
Walnuts drives solid volume growth for nuts in 2025
Nuts see increased uptake through foodservice though domestic producers face challenges
Nuts will continue to benefit from health positioning
Traceability and authenticity to become increasingly important
Pulses in Italy
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Affordability and versatility strengthen pulses in 2025
Pulses benefits from low cost and high protein
Updated image of fresh pulses lures younger Italians amid rising competitive threat from packaged formats
Rising interest in ethnic cuisine and versatile nature of pulses ensure further growth
Sustainable sourcing to become increasingly important
Starchy Roots in Italy
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Sweet potatoes lift starchy roots despite supply headwinds
Sweet potatoes drive growth, outpacing broader category
Affordability of potatoes protects sales amid climate volatility and supply chain problems
Central role of potatoes ensures future growth of starchy roots in Italy
Rising demand for organic, sustainable and new varieties of potatoes
Sugar and Sweeteners in Italy
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Sweeteners drive marginal rebound amid structural headwinds
Sugar and sweeteners turns in positive performance in 2025
Health and sustainability remain key concerns for Italian consumers
Sugar and sweeteners faces further struggles in forecast period
Sugar tax set to undermine category progress
Vegetables in Italy
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Climate volatility keeps growth uneven
Volume sales rise but category faces climate-related challenges
Provenance becomes more important as consumers make more responsible choices
Growth in vegetables remains subject to climatic conditions but supported by increased health awareness
Rising popularity of frozen vegetables hinders growth protentional of fresh variants, though new vegetables could add fresh impetus
COUNTRY REPORTS DISCLAIMER
The following categories and subcategories are included:
Fresh Food
- Eggs
-
- Crustaceans
- Fish
- Molluscs and Cephalopods
-
- Apples
- Banana
- Cherries
- Cranberries/Blueberries
- Grapefruit/Pomelo
- Grapes
- Kiwi Fruit
- Lemon and Limes
- Oranges, Tangerines and Mandarins
- Peaches/Nectarines
- Pears/Quinces
- Pineapple
- Plums/Sloes
- Strawberries
- Other Fruits
-
- Beef and Veal
- Lamb, Mutton and Goat
- Pork
- Poultry
- Other Meat
-
- Almonds
- Coconuts
- Peanuts (Groundnuts)
- Pistachio
- Walnuts
- Other Nuts
-
- Beans
- Peas
- Other Pulses
-
- Cassava
- Potatoes
- Sweet Potatoes
- Other Roots
- Sugar and Sweeteners
-
- Cauliflowers and broccoli
- Maize
- Onion
- Tomatoes
- Other Vegetables
Fresh Food
Fresh Food refers only to fresh uncooked and unprocessed foods (packaged and unpackaged). Packaged sugar products and natural sweeteners (e.g. brown sugar, table sugar, molasses) are also included. For Fresh Food, we research total sales across distribution channels including retail, foodservice and institutions. For a selected 18 markets, we have a breakdown of total fresh food sales according to the following formats: • Retail • Foodservice sales • Institutional sales Retail Retail sales is defined as sales through all legal establishments primarily engaged in the sale of fresh, packaged and prepared foods for home preparation and consumption. Retail sales excludes sales to hotels, restaurants, cafés, duty free sales and institutional sales (canteens, prisons/jails, hospitals, army, etc). Our retail definition excludes the purchase of food products from foodservice outlets for consumption off-premises, eg grilled chicken/meat/fish bought from counters of cafés/bars. This falls under foodservice sales. For foodservice, we capture all sales to foodservice outlets, regardless of whether the products are eventually consumed on-premise or off-premise. We estimate sales through the following channels: Modern Grocery Retailers • Supermarkets • Hypermarkets • Discounters • Convenience stores • Forecourt retailers Traditional Grocery Retailers • Independent small grocers • Food/Drink/Tobacco Specialists • Other grocery retailers (morning/speciality/open/wet/farmers’ markets, stalls and kiosks, etc) Non-grocery retailers • Health and beauty specialist retailers • Other non-grocery retailers Non-store retailers • Homeshopping • Internet retailing • Vending • Direct selling Foodservice Foodservice sales are defined as sales TO consumer foodservice outlets that serve the general public in a non-captive environment. In other words, this means that the foodservice volumes track sales of all fresh food going into restaurant kitchens, regardless of what the restaurant actually does with that food. Foodservice outlets include cafés/bars, FSR (full-service restaurants), fast food, 100% home delivery/takeaway, self-service cafeterias and street stalls/kiosks. Sales to semi-captive foodservice outlets are also included. This describes outlets located in leisure, travel and retail environments. • Retail refers to foodservice units located in retail outlets such as department stores, shopping malls, shopping centres, super/hypermarkets etc. • Leisure refers to foodservice units located in leisure establishments such as museums, health clubs, cinemas, theatres, theme parks and sports stadiums. • Travel refers to foodservice units based in airports, rail stations, coach stations, motorway service stations offering gas facilities etc. Institutional sales Institutional sales is defined as sales to captive foodservice units that serve captive populations such as in hospitals, schools, prisons, military camps, hotels, hostels, nursing homes, homes for elderly people, religious houses, etc.
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This report originates from Passport, our Fresh Food research and analysis database.
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