the food salt market | Italy

1.1 Definition and presentation

In Italy, the food salt market is structured around two main segments: salt for the private sector (table salt, cooking salt) and salt for the food industry (basic raw material). Used as a preservative, food salt provides the human body with two essential nutrients:

• Chloride, a key energizer;
• Sodium, important for the hydromineral balance of the cells and the body.

This essential condiment combines the flavours of sodium and chloride ions to give a distinctive salty taste to the foods it is added to or accompanied by. While a moderate amount of salt is essential for health, too much salt can be harmful. In both the B2B and B2C markets, salt producers have seen their production volumes decline over the past decade, driven by fierce foreign competition and health and nutrition communication campaigns.

In 2018, Italian salt was mostly extracted from 10 marine sites and 5 mining sites and Italy reportedly has the capacity to produce between 4 and 5 million tons of raw salt per year. The salt marshes and salt mines in Sicily, as well as those in Sardinia and Puglia, alone produce between 750,000 and 850,000 tons of salt per year. The Margherita di Savoia salt marsh, located in Puglia, is the largest in Europe.

The Italian consumption of food salt is not very brand related, the purchase is in fact dictated by variables such as price or convenience, which is why a wide range of small brands and e-commerce companies are performing well. In addition, the market is highly concentrated in the hands of large foreign multinationals that are gradually increasing their market share in the national territory with the recent purchase of several Italian salt production companies.