the pizza market | Italy

1.1 Definition and presentation

Pizza is a dish of Italian origin, consisting of a flat, round base of dough baked with a topping of tomatoes and cheese, typically with the addition of meat, fish or vegetables. Modern pizza was invented in Naples, and then became popular in many countries around the world. Very often, it is also considered a common fast-food item, especially in North America and Australia. Therefore, the market can be segmented into HDTA (home delivery/takeout), full-service restaurants, and fast-food restaurants.

The global pizza market is expected to reach a value of $233.36 billion in 2023, growing at a CAGR of 10.17% between 2019 and 2023. The main factors playing a role in this trend are the growing urban and young population, and the increase of pizza franchisees.

it is known to all that pizza represents one of the key dishes of Italian culinary culture and one of the pillars of the Mediterranean diet. The Italian economic system includes about 128,000 pizzerias throughout the country, supporting the employment of 110,000 full-time employees, and the same number of part-time staff on weekends. An average of 8 million pizzas are churned out every day in Italy, impacting the nation's agri-food production in terms of ingredients used, mainly flour, mozzarella, olive oil and tomato sauce.

Another crucial element to note is the proliferation in the production of frozen foods. In particular, pizza is the queen of Italian frozen food exports: consumption grew 5.5 percent over 2019, with a total volume of more than 896,000 tons of finished products in Italians' freezers. However, this fact multiplies the risk of using ingredients that have nothing to do with Made in Italy. For this reason, several initiatives have been launched to guarantee the Italian origin of ingredients and provide consumers with complete and transparent information.