Pasta di Gragnano Igp: over 50% export, but tariffs are not too scary

Tastings, show-cooking, talks, music, cultural prizes and immersive experiences: the three-day event celebrating Pasta di Gragnano Igp has begun. Also in the name of collaboration with twelve other Consortia that, as guests of the event, will present first courses based on the protected trademark products: from the Cousins of the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana Dop and the Pomodoro S. Marzano dell'Agro Sarnese-Nocerino PDO, the Basilico Genovese PDO, the Vitellone Bianco dell'Appennino Centrale PGI and the Cipolla Bianca di Margherita PGI.

'We have already followed this path in the past and we believe it is very fruitful. Pasta goes well with all typical Italian products and it is a promotional route that we want to take further abroad too,' comments the President of the Consortium and CEO of Pastificio Lucio Garofalo, Massimo Menna.

Moreover, exports for the companies of the Consortium established in 2013 account for more than 50% of turnover, which is around 400 million of production turnover, a figure that makes Gragnano PGI Pasta the tenth most important Italian PDO and PGI product in terms of value and the second most important product in Southern Italy (Ismea-Qualivita Report 2024).
In 2024 the objective of a production of over 100 thousand tonnes has been consolidated, with good growth prospects also for 2025 despite tariffs and the domestic consumption crisis.

"The Consortium's main tasks are protection and promotion and we do not have precise data that measures the situation month by month, and the different sizes of the companies that are part of it make it impossible to draw a homogeneous picture,' says a cautious Menna, who does not, however, conceal a certain optimism: 'The tariffs are undoubtedly a damage and an operation to be condemned that is not good for anyone, but the sentiment for now seems to me to remain positive in view of a few factors. First of all, the US is among our main non-EU markets, but it does not have a significant share: I do not have precise data for the whole consortium, but if it is 20% for Garofalo, the average will be much lower. Furthermore, transport costs are not affected by tariffs and are a significant item for us. Lastly, the absolute value of the price of pasta is not as high as that of other goods, so we are counting on being able to limit the damage thanks to the willingness to spend of consumers who are increasingly demanding in terms of quality, even abroad'.

"After all, domestic consumption is slowing down and the only way to expand is across the border. In general, quality pasta begins to tiptoe into foreign countries, but then consumers increase their consumption and become more and more demanding,' says Menna.
In a note of the Consortium we read how entrepreneurs and pasta factory managers point to the Middle East (especially the United Arab Emirates) and China as the areas with the greatest opportunities for development, which are also the areas where the risk of unfair competition with damage from Italian sounding is highest, not by chance at the top of Menna's priorities in his mandate.