Low-carb diets? Yes, but Italians aren’t giving up bread (which is changing)

According to an analysis by Niq for Vandemoortele, another major European player in the sector, traditional bread recorded a 5 per cent increase by volume and a 6 per cent increase by value, whilst speciality bread showed even stronger growth, with an 11 per cent increase by volume and a 7 per cent increase by value. This is therefore not a case of speciality bread replacing traditional bread – which retains significantly greater market share and penetration – but rather the expansion of a category capable of meeting different needs.
“Bread remains a staple purchase, but it is increasingly seen as a cultural choice as well. In Italia, there are over 200 recognised bread recipes – as Vandemoortele points out – and just as many that are part of local traditions. An enormous cultural heritage that only in Italia takes on such proportions. That is why viewing it as a low-price commodity is a mistake. A ‘commodity’ is an undifferentiated product, the origin of which is irrelevant. Bread is the exact opposite: it is a symbol of regional identity.”
It is no coincidence that there are three PDO (Pane di Altamura, Pane Toscano and Pagnotta del Dittaino) and five PGI (Coppia Ferrarese, Piadina Romagnola, Pane casareccio di Genzano, Pane di Matera and Südtiroler Schüttelbrot).
The variety of shapes also reflects a complex category. Among standard breads purchased in modern retail outlets, baguettes account for 56 per cent of the market, followed by small crusty rolls at 55 per cent, ciabatta at 50 per cent and loaves at 49 per cent. In the value-added segment, loaves and small crispy rolls both account for 26 per cent, followed by baguettes at 22 per cent.

“Just as has happened in the yoghurt sector over recent decades, we will also see the rise in the bakery sector of recipes that provide valuable nutrients, such as protein and fibre, and offer benefits particularly for gut health – an issue of concern to 81 per cent of Italians, compared with the European average of 61 per cent” says Valentina Bianchi, marketing director at Puratos Italia, a subsidiary of the Belgian group of the same name, which sells innovative ingredients, solutions and services for the bakery, patisserie and chocolate industries in over 100 countries.

Taking a look at the new products on offer to industry professionals makes it easy to predict which breads will be appearing on the shelves of artisan bakeries, large-scale retailers and fast-food outlets in the coming months: sourdough loaves, rolls made with sprouted durum wheat, sesame buns, rye focaccia (including sweet varieties), and shokupan, the Japanese sandwich bread that is taking Europe by storm, including Italia. All these recipes are created using primarily ‘made in Italia’ yeasts, additives, mixes and seeds, developed in collaboration with renowned bakers and pastry chefs, and produced in the three factories acquired in Lombardy and Liguria. They are then ‘explained’ to users at the nine Innovation Centres opened across Italia.

Having invested in production, Puratos has been acquiring local distributors since 2023 in order to be ever closer to its customers. So far, it has acquired an 80 per cent stake in three companies, leaving the remaining 20 per cent in the hands of the founding families and continuing, on their behalf, to consolidate other smaller local wholesalers. The acquisition drive is not yet over and will serve to create distribution hubs in other parts of Italia and to increase turnover from €150 million in 2026 to €250 million by 2030.

Finally, Italmopa (the Association of Italian Industrial Millers, a member of FederPrima-Confindustria) points out that ‘if Italia can boast such a rich and varied heritage of breads, the credit is also due to the variety and versatility of the flours produced in our country. Soft wheat flours, durum wheat semolina and flours from other cereals enable the milling industry to cater for every form of bread-making, from small artisan bakeries to large-scale production’.
Flour is, in fact, not merely an ingredient, but ‘the backbone and very soul of bread’. The Italian milling industry supplies around 2.5 million tonnes of flours and semolina each year for bread-making alone. The sector’s strength lies in its ability to offer bespoke solutions: ‘from flours suitable for long proving times, the use of sourdough and manual processing, right through to flours with consistent and calibrated rheological properties, capable of guaranteeing the very highest standards of quality and safety even in large volumes’, concludes Italmopa.