About this reportConvenience food manufacturers are likely to make significant headway in Italy only if their products are high quality and fresh.
Although Italians are finding more pressures on their time, there are few signs that the food- and health-conscious Italians will compromise on quality.Food scares, such as avian flu, are, in fact, reinforcing consumers’ concerns about chemicals in food and packaging and about health generally.
The most successful companies in this market are those embracing the quality aspect as well as the supermarkets that can make fresh foods on their premises.Despite changes in lifestyles, such as increasing female employment, reduced time available for cooking, increasing distance between workplace and home, with the consequence of shorter lunch breaks, Italy will remain a difficult market to target.
Economic growth is expected to be negligible in 2006 and probably in 2007 and population growth is predicted to be only very slightly positive over the next two decades.
Attempts by the EU to improve the competitiveness of the food market across Europe will, in theory, affect the Italian convenience markets (by improving labelling, providing more information about food origin, and so on) but, when it comes to food, Italians are not easily manipulated by marketing techniques.
Italy is a nation of ‘foodies’ – where discussions about the pros and cons of different kinds of mushrooms can last for hours.