CONSUMPTION OF DELI MEATS: IN 2021 WELL BUT WITH INCREASED COSTS
We share some economic data on the sector presented at the annual Assica Assembly.
Once again, cured meats have been confirmed as a real comfort food, with a recovery in consumption, in 2021, both in Italy (+5.4% in volume) and abroad (export +15.2% in volume, +12.0% in value) as well as in production (+7.0% in volume and +6.2% in value), but compared to 2020, production costs and difficulties in the sector have also grown exponentially.
In fact, companies in the sector are now at the end of their tether: they are among the hardest hit by price increases, because the use of energy in processing and preservation processes is highly impactful, and to worsen the outlook, cases of PSA among wild boars in Italy have been added. This is severely damaging exports, both in Europe and in third countries, which were a key driver during 2021.
In 2021 all the main categories of cured meats showed growth, with apparent consumption per capita in Italy standing at around 17 kg compared to 16.2 in 2020 (+5.4%), corresponding to an average real consumption per capita of around 11.3 kg/year. Apparent consumption of cured raw hams rose to 222,400 tons (+6.1%); in particular, consumption of cooked ham rose to 274,800 tons (+4.8%). Mortadella and frankfurter consumption also increased (+4.2% to 190,800 tons) and salami consumption rose to 81,500 tons (+4.4%), while bresaola consumption also showed a marked recovery, rising to 25,800 tons from 24,200.
The structure of internal consumption thus saw cooked ham in first place again, with a 27.1% share of total cured meats, followed by raw ham at 21.9%, mortadella/wurstel at 18.8%, salami at 8.0% and bresaola at 2.5%.
Taking cold cuts and fresh pork together, apparent consumption per capita rose to 28.4 kg from 27.2 kg in the previous year (+4.4%), corresponding to approximately 18.8 kg/year of actual consumption.
With the increase in consumption of cured meats, production also returned to growth, after the major drop in 2020 due to the pandemic, and closed the twelve months at 1.169 million tonnes from 1.093 in 2020 (+7.0%).
With regard to individual cured meats, in 2021, the production of cured raw hams showed a robust +8.2% to 282,500 tonnes and +7.0% in value to EUR 2,263 million. The rebound in raw hams was supported by several factors: the return of domestic demand to a growth path, the strong recovery of foreign demand for the category and the need to replenish stocks after the difficult 2020 when the pandemic had led to a sharp contraction. There was also a marked increase in the production of cooked ham, which rose to 288,200 tons (+6.3%) for Euro 2,026 million (+4.8%). The share of raw and cooked hams, the leading products in the sector, showed a slight improvement in quantity compared to the previous year, standing at 48.8% from 48.7% in 2020, but declined slightly in value, stopping at 50.9% from 51.1% in the previous year.
There was also a positive trend for mortadella production, which rose to 163,800 tons (+4.3%) for a value of €710.2 million (+4.2%), and for frankfurters, which reached 60,800 tons (+3.2%) for a value of €188.5 million (+0.6%). There was also a strong increase in the production of salami, which reached 120,200 tons (+10.3%) for a value of €1,077 million (+8.6%), while there was a decrease in the production of bacon, coppa and bresaola.
