1.1 Definition and presentation

Pasta is a food product made of flour, durum wheat semolina, salt, water and sometimes other cereals and eggs. The pasta market is structured around the production and marketing of dry pasta and fresh pasta.

Over the past two decades, global pasta production has grown 63%. The dry pasta segment is expected to continue to grow at a rate of 2.3% through 2025, while fresh pasta will continue to grow at a rate of 1.3% over the same period.

Italians are the population with the highest per capita consumption of pasta, with 23.5 kilograms per year, followed by Tunisia, with 17 kilograms, and Venezuela, with 12 kilograms. Moreover, Italy is also the main pasta producing country. It is estimated, in fact, that the export of pasta made in Italy has increased, covering 56% of the global production.

The Italian pasta market is a highly concentrated market, especially for dry pasta, where large national players such as Barilla and De Cecco prevail. As far as fresh pasta is concerned, on the other hand, there are many stores and stores specialized in the production of fresh pasta, which must be consumed in a short time after being purchased.

The market has been recently renewed thanks to the enthusiasm of consumers towards healthy pasta and to the increasing attention to the sustainability of products. With this in mind, new offerings have developed that include not only gluten-free and grain-based pasta, but also new, more sustainable packaging.

1.2 The European pasta market in slow growth

Pasta production and consumption in the European Union is currently growing slowly (***). Estimated production in **** was *.* million tons, for *.* million tons of pasta consumed [***]

Pasta production and consumption European Union, ****-****, thousands of tons Source: ****

1.3 Key figures of the pasta market in Italy

The Italian pasta market sees an annual production of about *,***,*** tons among the different types of production, for an income of about * million euros, of which **.*% for domestic consumption and **.*% obtained from exports to foreign markets. The average Italian consumption of pasta per capita stands at ** kg per person per year, ...

1.4 Import and Export Analysis

The Italian pasta market is recognized worldwide for the excellence of its products. In fact, as the following chart shows, the value of exports is much higher than imports. Every year, on average, exports are ****% more than imports, and it would thus not relevant to compare them as they show completely ...

1.5 Impact of Covid-19

The spreading of Covid-** certainly opened a crisis without equal in modern history, but it also influenced Italians' purchasing and consumption habits.

The agri-food industry, and in particular the sector of pasta raw materials, such as cereals and flours, have been mainly influenced by the increase in domestic consumption. In the ...

2.1 Demand Overview

The Italian pasta market, being this a traditional and culturally representative product of the "bel paese", has specific characteristics in terms of demand. Pasta is one of the basic elements of Italian cooking and it is present in all the kitchens of Italians and that is why the demand for pasta ...

2.2 Demand Drivers

The demand for pasta in Italy is connected and moving in the same direction as some demographic indicators.

Average monthly expenditure per family for pasta

In order to understand the importance of pasta in the life of families, it is appropriate to analyze the average monthly expenditure a family sustains to ...

2.3 Geographical distribution of demand

Considering the above map, it is possible to see that the difference in the average expense each family sustains to buy pasta on a monthly basis does not differ drastically with respect to the region of residence. The differences in expenditure, even if minimal, are not only related to the cost ...

2.4 New demand trends

Use of raw materials and preparation techniques

In Italy, the variety of pasta types is very wide, it is estimated that at least *** different ranges of pasta are marketed, which can be clustered into dry and fresh (***). The product was not only consumed by celiac consumers, but also by those who ...

3.1 Market structure and dynamics

In Italy, the total number of companies operating in the production of pasta and couscous (***). In the graph below, it is possible to deduce that the total number of companies in the sector has decreased compared to **** and ****, from a total of **** entities in **** to an average of **** between **** and ****; only ...

3.2 Value chain

The value chain and operation of the pasta market in Italy are summarized below.

Source: ****

3.3 Mergers and acquisitions

Given the trends of recent years in the pasta market, of great importance have been the investments of large companies, such as Barilla, in the acquisition of smaller companies. These operations are carried out for a variety of reasons such as:

To increase their portfolio To develop new synergies and economies ...

4.1 Type of offer

As already mentioned, as the Italian pasta market is very traditional, there are many types. Nevertheless, pasta can be divided according to two characteristics: composition and shape

Nutritional reference values for pasta, considering as sample *** g of dry durum wheat pasta, provide about *** calories, divided in carbohydrates, proteins and fats as ...

4.2 Prices

The price of pasta depends on a number of elements. As they are prepared using flour and wheat and water, in some variations with egg as well, it is worth expecting a correlation between the variation of pasta prices and that of the price of the raw material needed.

CPI assessment ...

4.3 New trends in supply

In the last ** years the production of pasta has seen many changes, differentiating its offer and developing new ingredients to meet different needs. Italy has so far led both the change and the market.

As far as trends are concerned, the consumer of the **st century and in particular of our ...

5.1 Regulatory framework

Considering the production of pasta, from a legal point of view it is worth introducing the new regulation concerning the origins and sources of ingredients. The regulation states that, within the business structure, the operator in charge of consumer information about the food must indicate the country of origin or place ...