Italy: Food Processing Ingredients

The Italian food-processing industry continues to be highly fragmented, characterized by a growing consolidation of smaller companies. Progress in food technology, marketing innovations, “Made in Italy” products, and exports of finished food products have all contributed to Italy’s increasing demand for food ingredients. Italy’s food-processing industry played a key role in 2020, with food manufacturers working relentlessly to ensure food availability, mainly to food retailers, as consumers’ demand increased rapidly, especially in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. Italy depends almost entirely on raw material imports, most of which come from other EU countries.