Positive results for the made-in-Italy feed industry

Resilience and differentiation are the watchwords for the Italian feed industry. In fact, 2024 saw substantial resilience even in the most 'critical' sectors such as the chicken and pig sectors threatened by bird flu and African swine fever, and important steps forward on the diversification front with progress in the sheep and aquaculture sectors and - above all - in pet food.

These are the positive results released a few days ago by Assalzoo (the national association of livestock feed producers), which archived a positive year with an overall production growth of 0.7%. A progress that equates to more than 100 thousand tonnes more feed produced than in 2024.

"A solid 2024," commented the neo president of Assalzoo, Massimo Zanin, "which confirms a growth trajectory for the sector, resilient in times of difficulty and capable of pushing on the growth accelerator when the right conditions are in place. The figures for the poultry and pig sector show that they are holding up well, despite the health difficulties they faced in 2024. The albeit small expansion of the beef sector, which is coming from some difficult years, is going in the right direction. And the confirmations of sectors such as sheep and aquaculture, not to mention pet food, show that the feed sector can cover the entire spectrum of animal nutrition at its best. Although the challenging conditions are not lacking, the direction our industry has taken is the right one.

The data provided by Assalzoo, moreover, make it possible to assess the dynamics within the different supply chains. The main sector of reference is the poultry industry (which absorbs about 40% of total production with 6 million tonnes out of a total of more than 15). In 2024 it recorded a slight drop in production from 6.13 million tonnes produced in 2023 to 6 last year (-0.7%). Within the chain, all individual poultry species declined slightly except broilers (+0.9%).

A resilient trend also for the pork industry, which in recent months has been most exposed to turbulence due to the African Swine Fever offensive that is discouraging entrepreneurs from starting new investments.