About this report

The Italian market for healthy-option food and drinks is growing, with healthier and lighter products taking an expanding share in most categories, including some otherwise stagnant sectors such as butter, salty snacks and sugar confectionery. Functionality is an increasingly important claim in new products, often aimed at reducing cholesterol or controlling weight. Innovation in healthy varieties has been carried out by both multinational companies and smaller local players, although only the former tend to offer full product lines of healthy options.

The countries examined within the Consumer Goods Intelligence series of reports are France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Please note that TGI Europa consumer data are not provided for Italy.

Contents

Issues in the Market
Definition
Abbreviations
Market in Brief
Healthier options gain ground
Greater sophistication
The young pose a challenge
A more holistic approach
Internal Market Environment
Key points
Weight problems increase
Figure 1: Incidence of overweight and obesity among Italian adult population (18+), by body mass index, 2005
Changing eating habits
Daily consumption of food staples declining
Figure 2: Daily consumption of selected food and drinks, 1997 and 2005
Food suppliers respond to growing concerns
Health claims become more varied and sophisticated
Healthy to the extreme
Functionality is a key product feature
Increasing interest in organic
Legislation controls health claims
Broader Market Environment
Key points
Italians spend more on fish, but less on sugar, coffee and vegetables
Figure 3: Average monthly family spending, by category, 2003-05
Figure 4: Average monthly family spending, by category, by region, 2003-05
Small households better adjusted to healthy eating
Figure 5: Trends in household size in Italy, 2000-02
Figure 6: Average monthly expenditure, by household type, by category, 2005
Ageing population creates demand for healthier options
Figure 7: Trends in Italian population, by age, 2001-11
Improving economic setting is good news
Figure 8: Trends in Italian PDI, consumer expenditure and GDP, at 2006 prices, 2001-11
Working women lack time to cook, but still want their family to eat healthily
Figure 9: Trends in Italian employment, 2001-05
Who’s Innovating?
Key points
Figure 10: Principal product claims in all food and drink launches, 2002-07
Functional dairy products
Healthy-option biscuits feature strongly in baked goods
Snack bars help in weight control
Healthy-option proposition uncommon in crisps and snacks
Low-calorie and vitamin-enriched soft drinks
Less sugary confectionery
Market Size and Forecast
Key points
Healthy options grow faster than general food sales
Figure 11: Italian retail value sales of selected food markets, all products vs healthy options, 2002-06
Figure 12: Growth in Italian retail value sales of healthy-option food and drinks, 2002-07
Figure 13: Healthier products’ share of market value, Italy, 2007
Is low-fat enough?
Continued growth
Forecast
Figure 14: Forecast of Italy’s retail value sales of selected ‘healthy’ foods, by type, at current prices, 2002-12
Figure 15: Forecast of Italy’s retail value sales of selected ‘healthy’ foods, by type, at 2007 constant prices*, 2002-12
Figure 16: Healthier products’ share of market value, Italy, 2002, 2007 and 2012
Factors used in the forecast
Segment Performance
Key points
Dairy
Figure 17: Italian retail value sales of dairy foods, by sector, 2002-06
Figure 18: Italian retail value sales of yogurt, by type, 2002-06
Soft drinks
Figure 19: Italian retail value sales of soft drinks, by sector, 2002-06
Confectionery
Figure 20: Italian retail value sales of confectionery, by sector, 2002-06
Baked goods
Figure 21: Italian retail value sales of baked goods, by sector, 2002-06
Crisps and snacks
Figure 22: Italian retail value sales of crisps and snacks, by sector, 2002-06
Market Share
Key points
Dairy
Soft drinks
Confectionery
Baked goods
Crisps and snacks
Companies and Products
Barilla
Danone
Granarolo
Nestlé
Channels to Market
Key points
Grocery multiples account for the bulk of sales
Fragmented trading base
Figure 23: Number of food retail outlets in Italy, by type, 2000-03