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Home > ÖSTERREICH > Geschftsveranstaltungen
THE ITALIAN FOOD INDUSTRY LOOKING TO GROW IN RUSSIA
Rome - (Ign) - The aim is to present the best products of Italian cuisine on international markets, to help companies further develop their constantly growing turnover. This is why the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE) has organized a collective Italian participation at Prod-expo 2007, one of the most important shows in the food industry, which will take place at the Zao Expocentr in Moscow between 12 and 16 February 2007. Prodexpo (www.prod-expo.ru) is the biggest fair in Russia and eastern Europe dedicated to the sector of food products, equipment for restaurants and bars and packaging. The last edition saw the participation of 2144 exhibitors and 96,000 visitors: figures that the organizers are confident they can increase this year, considering the interest of Italian business in the Russian food market. The Italian delegation will comprise 80 exhibitors, in a show area of 900 square metres.
This year there will be the 17 planned thematic sections, each dedicated to a food speciality, ranging from meats, fish, milk and dairy products to pasta, coffee and frozen products. Specialised areas will be dedicated to packaging, frozen food and coffee machines. This is a series of products the Italian food industry excels at, and it is hoped that the show may lead to further growth in its already impressive turnover. The Italian food industry's total sales in fact are €107bn: figures which make the sector the second largest after engineering, and which are particularly significant for those products which characterize the Mediterranean diet. Italy is in fact experiencing a real boom period in these foodstuffs: in the first 9 months of 2006 oil exports grew by 20%, those of wine by 6.4%, those of vegetables by 5.8% and those of pasta by 3.2%. This continuous growth allowed Italian exports overall to rise by 6%, reaching the record value of over €20bn. We also need to consider the market for professional coffee machines, which is especially thriving, with sales figures of €287m in 2005, mostly from exports (whose contribution to the total was 74%, at €212m), above all to Asian markets, the USA and Australia.
The business fabric of the Italian food industry is made up of thousands of enterprises, almost all medium-sized or small, which produce both for the domestic market and for an increasingly large international clientele. And a special mention has to be made of wine, with exports estimated at €3bn. Shares in the vital market of pasta, cheeses, oil and cured meats are also important. Among the countries which most appreciate Italian cuisine Germany holds pride of place, followed by France, the United States and Spain. Among the new customers China has made a mark, where the food sector, with increases of 129%, is the national economic sector which saw the highest rate of growth in exports to the country, with record values for wines (+117%), oils and fats (+148%), cheeses and dairy products (+1077%) and pasta (+49%). But big growth is particularly evident in Russia: Italian exports to the country rose by 9.3% in 2006, taking it to fourth place among the non-EU buyers of Italian food, accounting for a total value of €300m. Amongst the Italian products most appreciated by Russians, sparkling wines rose by 23%, pasta by 17.7% and cheeses (above all Parmesan and Grana Padano) by 54.6%. There was also a surprise, as sales of Italian vodka shot up by 83%. This is why Prodexpo may be the right opportunity to make further inroads into a market which already looks on Italy with great favour.
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