From VenicePost Monitor | Italy is the first country in the EU in terms of the number of companies active in the organic sector, and sales in the large-scale retail sector grew by 20 percent in 2015. A turnover estimated at more than 3 million euros and still growing
Green economy and sustainability applied to the food supply chain materialize in the most evident way in the organic sector: a field in which Italy is the leader at the European Union level in terms of the absolute number of active companies – 46,000 at the end of 2014, according to the latest data provided by the European Commission, with a +4.9% over 2014 and followed at a long distance by Spain’s 30,500. The Italian market is growing strongly: according to Assobio data compiled by the Nielsen Institute, there was a 20 percent increase in 2015 over the previous year, for a turnover of 863.8 million euros. And even more significant is that the data refer to the large-scale retail trade: so we are not talking about niche distribution channels, but about products that have fully entered the shelves of our supermarkets. Adding up the sales of the 55 member companies in Assobio, organic sales reach the billion euro mark; and Biobank estimates the total organic turnover at over three billion euros. If the bulk of sales are eggs (61 million euros) and fruit preserves (60 million) to grow the most are extra virgin olive oil (+47.7% for 23.5 million euros), soy foods (+37.3%, for 34.7 million euros) and pasta (+29% for 36.9 million): an interest in organic that thus ranges from the Mediterranean diet to new food trends. The average increase for the top 15 categories in the gdo stands at 18.6 percent. The largest group active on the sales and distribution side in this sector in our country is EcorNaturaSì, created in 2009 from the merger between NaturaSì (founded in Verona in 1992 under the name ISIR) and Ecor, the largest wholesale distributor in the sector. EcorNaturaSì, after closing 2014 with a turnover of 275.8 million euros and 6.7 million in net profit, in 2015 brought turnover to 330; and for 2016, reports the group’s general manager and president of Assobio, Roberto Zanoni, “the goal is +10-12% turnover, and the opening of new stores, reaching 250 from the current 187.” Expansion projects also concern abroad: in addition to Spain, where there are already two outlets, “we are working on Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia,” Zanoni continues, “where we have acquired a 25 percent stake in a local chain. EcorNaturaSì also constitutes an example of how organic products arouse the interest of investors even from quite different sectors: in fact, the entry of Diesel patron Renzo Rosso with 26%, through the Red Circle holding company, had made headlines in 2014; but there are many examples, including – among the most recent – the acquisition by Fratelli Pagani (a specialist in flavors, spices and functional ingredients for the industrial market) of 93% of the Emilia-based Cerreto, which operates in the field of organic farming. But it is mainly small businesses that are benefiting, in terms of percentage growth, from the great expansion of this sector. This is the case, for example, of the Gorizia-based Biolab, founded in 1991 by Massimo Santinelli, when only a few people were still talking about organic, vegetarian and vegan – specific areas on which Biolab works -.
The company exceeded 10.5 million euros in turnover in 2015 – 30 percent more than in 2014 and more than three times as much as in 2012 – and produced almost 9 million pieces in some 40 plant-based references, employing some 70 workers (of whom 20 stabilized in 2015); and as much as 95 percent of production is destined for the Italian market, the share of exports to Germany, France and the Netherlands in particular is growing, strong in the consistent focus on made-in-Italy agri-food products-it is worth remembering that agri-food exports grew by 8 percent in the first 9 months of 2015, touching 27 billion euros, and that for 89 products Italy holds a place on the podium in world trade shares (Symbola foundation data). Finally, not to be overlooked is the growth of public establishments – from restaurants to ice cream parlors – with an organic, vegetarian and vegan approach: according to Biobank-Fedagri data, the turnover of organic mass catering amounts to 315 million euros, with nearly 1,500 active catering services. Real chains have also sprung up: this is the case, for example, of Veggy Days, with 13 establishments in operation from Trento to Catania and 5 soon to open, an emanation of the Romagna-based specialist Con.Bio. Returning to an overall view, Zanoni – at the presentation of the above data at Bologna Fiere in mid-January – said that “organic should not represent the new frontier of sales; organic is also a system of values, it represents an agriculture capable of preserving the environment, biodiversity, capable of responding to global challenges and in this way it must also be considered by the large-scale retail trade. The goal is to make operators and consumers understand the true value of organic, beyond the issue of volumes and prices.”