Catering, added value in 2025 exceeds 59 billion

"The 2026 Catering Report gives us the image of a sector that is resisting the economic slowdown, registering growth in added value and consumption, confirming that catering is an indispensable pillar of Italians' daily lives". With these words Lino Enrico Stoppani, president of Fipe Confcommercio summarises the economic weight of the sector during the presentation of the 2026 edition of the Report. The figures from the federation's Studies Office show a 2025 under the banner of moderate growth but marked by several structural criticalities to which geopolitical tensions and a slowing economy are added.

The value of consumption in 2025 stands at 100 billion with a growth of 3.7% over the previous year but without catching up with pre-pandemic levels. The sore point is a certain drop in consumption volumes by Italian customers due to the decline in purchasing power, while the contribution of foreign tourists is essential to rebalance the situation. However, eating out recalls a dimension of socialisation and conviviality that is difficult to give up. The trend of added value, which includes the value created by the sector using raw materials, services, etc. in addition to remuneration for staff work and capital investments, is consolidating, reaching 59.3 billion euro in 2025 with real growth of half a percentage point. Uncertainty makes investment choices more targeted: in 2025, 28.4 per cent of companies carried out modernisations, 25.8 per cent are planning them in 2026.

Approximately 324,000 companies are active in the sector, a drop of one percentage point. The greatest contraction (-2.2%), the report states, is recorded in the bar channel as an effect of structural difficulties of the format but also of the evolution of companies towards other business models. Often this is the upgrade from bar to restaurant. The restaurant sector is substantially stable (-0.4% over 2024), while the banqueting and catering sector is up 3.5%. On the price side, restaurant prices are up 3.2% on 2024. In 2025, the process of adjustment of price lists following the inflationary shock of the post-pandemic years continued, although the Italian catering sector is confirmed, from this point of view, as one of the most virtuous in Europe. The outlook for 2026 is weighed down by the risks of a new energy shock triggered by the conflict in the Middle East

On the employment side, there was a decrease in dependent employment, which lost more than 114 thousand (-10.3%). The match between labour supply and demand remains a critical issue in the sector, with one in two companies stating that they have difficulty finding staff. Although the catering sector continues to be an important employment pool for young people (61.6% of workers are under 40), the only employment bracket that is resisting the general decline is that of the over 60s, highlighting how, in the public sector, the number of people staying at work is gradually lengthening, also due to the demographic crisis. Productivity remains a structural problem in the sector: compared to 2024, it has dropped by one percentage point and remains a clear distance from the values of ten years ago. "The growing difficulties of companies in finding personnel are reflected in the downturn in salaried employment, confirming the need for active policies that encourage the matching of labour demand and supply, continuous professional retraining and a better strategy on educational guidance for young people," added the Fipe chairman. Demographic transformations, difficulties on the issues of productivity and marginality are triggering profound changes in the sector, with the family model that, while it remains the prevailing form of access and organisation of the business, is nevertheless called upon to undergo a profound evolution to enhance the qualities and not lose the values that have led Italian cuisine to the Unesco recognition - Intangible Heritage of Humanity".