The ham market | Italy

1.1 Definition and scope of study

Ham is a cut of pork meat. In food, it is mainly used in the creation of two cured meats: prosciutto crudo and prosciutto cotto. Technically and more correctly, in Italian language the term prosciutto refers to a cut of meat of the hind limb of the pig, from the hip to the first row of the tarsal bones, commonly known as thigh. Although in rare cases it can be cooked and served fresh, most hams are tanned or cured. The ham market can be segmented according to form (fresh and frozen), process (air dried cured hams and smoked hams), buyers, sales channels (supermarket, specialist retailers and online retailers), and geographical region.

The global ham market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 3% in the upcoming years, and it will reach a value of $47 billion by 2030.

Considering Italian production, Prosciutto di Parma is one of the most attractive products offered by this market. However, it closed 2020 with a significant reduction in production by 5.6%, as the year 2020 showed a general contraction of the ham market. On the other hand, exports managed to at least partially contain the crisis, with a 3% drop and 2.5 million hams sold. Despite the reduction in production, the demand for Prosciutto di Parma has accelerated during the pandemic, especially for pre-packaged ham, characterized by low prices and the lengthening of the shelf-life of the product itself. This solution has also been relevant to export ham in more distant countries. In particular, there are 140 companies specialized in the production of Prosciutto di Parma in Italy. Their total production is sold, for 71%, in Italy, and the remaining 29% is destinated to be exported.

However, there are also other sorts of ham that are produced in the Italian territory, including Prosciutto di San Daniele, Culatello and Prosciutto cotto, and that hold an important notoriety also in foreign markets.