Consumption

Increasing calories in Italians' trolley: between protein, sugar and new food trends

Emerging trends according to the Gs1 Observatory's analysis of labels: despite health claims and the search for protein, analysis of the ingredients of new products on the shelves reveals that the amount of fat and sugar is on the rise

by Manuela Soressi

4 February 2026

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The meta-product I imagine
Health, free-from and rich-in
Lifestyle
Spirulina and wheat germ already in decline?

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

A higher protein and fibre intake but also up to 75% more sugar and 51% more fat than the average Italian's shopping trolley, especially in chocolate products, yoghurt and kefir, vegetable preserves, ready meals and sports foods. X-rayed by the new edition of GS1 Italy's Immagino Observatory, which will be released today, the more than 6,000 new foods arriving on the shelves between June 2024 and June 2025 show that they go decidedly against the tide compared to the healthy approach to food adopted by Italians in recent years and increasingly 'ridden' by messages on packaging.

The Immagino meta-product

This is revealed by comparing the information contained in the labels of more than 83 thousand food products (responsible for 72% of grocery turnover) digitised by GS1 Italy Servizi's Immagino service, and condensed in the 'Immagino meta-product', the nutritional index of Italians' shopping that transforms all the nutritional values of the products on the shelves into one big label. "The new products go along with the interest in proteins and the revaluation of fats, but they deviate from the tendency to reduce sugars that we have detected in the past - explains Samanta Correale, senior business intelligence manager of Gs1 Italy - The result is that they are more energetic: 100 grams provide an average of 192.6 kcalories compared to 174.6 of the total grocery".

Since 2017, the Immagino Observatory has been chronicling the evolution of the shopping trolley with a unique approach: starting from over 100 claims on labels to create nine themed shopping trolleys (e.g. trendy ingredients or lifestyle), whose Nielsen IQ trends are tracked in supermarkets, hypermarkets and open-air shops. In this way, it is able to monitor the trends that drive demand, and thus consumer preferences, on the one hand, and supply trends on the other, identifying which messages are most popular and which are growing fastest half-year after half-year. "The Osservatorio Immagino is unique on the Italia scene because it transforms a proprietary and structured database into market intelligence, cross-referencing it with sales evidence," comments Bruno Aceto, ceo of GS1 Italy, an association that groups 42 thousand companies.

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Health, free from and rich in

Looking at the basket as a whole and not only at the new entries, this 18th edition of the six-monthly study confirms the centrality of expenditure linked to localism and Italian tradition and of that marked by healthiness, with the basket of over 22 thousand free from products reaching a turnover of 12.5 billion euros and that of the over 11 thousand enriched products ("rich in") grossing 5.8 billion euros.

Free-from trends include the advance of lactose-free products, with 3,109 references and over 2.3 billion euro (+5.3% per year), and the focus on reducing sugars, with the good performance of the claims 'no added sugars' (1.945 products for over 1 billion euro in sales, +3.4% in value and +2.3% in volume) and 'low sugar' (3,217 products and over 1.7 billion sell-out), particularly in fruit-based drinks, jams, Greek yoghurt and milk alternatives.

On the other hand, in the rich-in basket, which is still dominated by proteins (indicated on almost 4 thousand products with sales of over 2 billion euros), the "milk enzymes" claim stands out, found on 642 dairy products that in twelve months have grown in double figures (+10.8% in volume and +11.4% in value), approaching 569 million euros in sell-out. Emerging trends, such as the advancement of information on the presence of minerals (especially calcium, potassium and magnesium), mainly driven by the liveliness of demand, also ended up on the radar of the Immagino Observatory.

Lifestyle

Another growing spending model is the 'lifestyle' model. It is made up of the 5,667 products on whose labels there is at least one claim referring to a lifestyle choice (e.g. vegetarian), and in the 12 months surveyed it gathered +1.9% in volume and +3.2% in value. "In recent years we have seen it evolve, expand and segment, and all this has benefited sales, which are now close to EUR 3.1 billion," comments Correale. What stands out above all is the vegan claim, which has grown more than the average thanks to the increased on-shelf assortment, which has reached over 4 thousand products. The pronounced growth in supply, combined with that of demand (over +30 percentage points), led to a consistent increase in sales of the 147 'plant-based' foods, which grew by 71.8% and 31.4% in volume (see also article opposite, ed.).

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Spirulina and wheat germ already in decline?

The latest edition of the Osservatorio Immagino also confirms how Italians' purchasing choices are subject to food fads, documented by the super ingredient basket with its 41 superfoods, present in more than 15,300 products developing more than EUR 5.6 billion in sales.

"From the very beginning, we identified the trendiest products and ingredients and monitored their cross-category spread and sales dynamics,' adds Correale. 'This allowed us to follow the ignition, the shining and often also the extinction of certain mass phenomena. A fate that in 2025 befell avocado, spirulina and wheat germ, which declined in both value and volume. Negative trends, but only in quantity, also for otherformer superstars such as peanut butter, ginger and pistachios. Italians now show a preference for mangoes, cashews, almonds, blueberries, oats, walnuts and pumpkin seeds. And already some 'minor' but brilliant superfoods are showing up, such as cheese seeds (+45.3% by volume), coconut water (+32.3%), matcha (+19.7%), tahina (+5.4%) and the revered goji berries (+8%). The next phenomena? The Immagino Observatory 'bets' on basmati and wasabi, which are already conquering space.