From bakers to ice cream makers, 40% of food artisans are hard to find

That in the food & beverage sector - but not only there - there is a struggle to find sufficient and adequately trained professionals is unfortunately nothing new. The alarm among operators has been raised for some time, but the emphasis is often placed on the restaurant and bar sector, while the problem is also very much felt in the production sector. Providing a detailed picture of the shortcomings on the market and at territorial level is a report by Confartigianato, presented at the conference "Craftsmanship Intelligence at the Table" held at the Chamber of Deputies.

Of the 176,450 professional figures required by Italian food companies, as many as 68,160 were difficult to find, almost 40%. At a regional level, the highest number of hard-to-find workers in food and beverage companies is recorded in Emilia-Romagna with 8,910 untraceable figures out of 21,660 expected entries. This is followed by Campania with 8,560 out of 24,760 and Lombardy with 7,640 out of 20,200. Particularly large numbers are also recorded in Veneto, with 7,520 hard-to-find workers out of 18,540 requested, and in Apulia with 6,980 out of 17,500. In Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta there are 5,880 hard-to-find figures out of 13,500, while in Sicily there are 4,240 out of 10,520.

Above all, bakers, pastry chefs, confectioners, ice cream makers and artisan canners are missing: out of 28,610 workers requested, 16,010 - or 56% - were difficult to find. In detail, 9,820 bakers and pasta makers did not respond to the call for workers, amounting to 67.6% of the 14,520 requested by companies. Even for pastry chefs, ice cream makers and artisan canners the demand remains high: out of 14,090 figures sought, 6,190 were difficult to find.

"The food sector," emphasises the president of Confartigianato Alimentazione, Cristiano Gaggion, "continues to show great vitality. In Italia there are 64,365 artisan enterprises in the food, beverage and catering sectors with 248,672 employees and they represent one of the main strengths of Italian food, thanks to their ability to combine tradition, quality raw materials and innovation. But the shortage of professional skills represents a threat to our activities. Bakers, pasta makers, pastry chefs and ice cream makers are fundamental figures to continue guaranteeing the excellence of Italian food products'.

The competitiveness of the sector on international markets,' Confartigianato points out, 'rests on a unique heritage of certified quality. Italia has 330 agri-food products recognised by the European Union with the PDO, PGI and TSG marks, which are flanked by 530 quality wines recognised at European level and 5,717 traditional agri-food products, the expression of the country's different gastronomic cultures'.