More and more water and beer on the table of Italian consumers

Italians? They drink more and more water and beer and less and less wine and soft drinks. This is what emerges from a study by Nomisma: in the last ten years, its researchers claim, in Italy the consumption of mineral water has grown by 29.1% and that of beer by 20.9%; on the contrary, the consumption of alcohol has fallen by 10.7% and that of soft drinks - the non-alcoholic drinks, carbonated and not - has decreased by 4%.

However, the beverage industry as a whole can be satisfied. What has grown over all these years has above all been exports, which from 2014 to date have leapt 86% to EUR 12.3 billion. The key markets, according to Nomisma, remain Europe and the United States, which together absorb 23% of Italian beverage exports. The USA has been - at least until before Trump's duties, then the unknown is a must - a strategic destination especially for sparkling wines: Prosecco alone, in ten years, has increased its sales to the stars and stripes market by 27%. Mineral waters have also grown in the United States (+41%).

In Italy, on the other hand, interest in healthy, low and no-alcohol, functional and enriched products is on the rise: more than 50 per cent of Italians claim to have increased their consumption of free from products, i.e. with reduced sugar or calorie content. In our country, the beverage sector has more than 3,300 companies, a turnover of EUR 26.1 billion and employs 43 thousand people. Within the food sector, it accounts for 15% in terms of production value and 21% in terms of exports. Beer alone in our country creates value in the supply chain of EUR 10.6 billion, with around 900 breweries and more than 109 thousand employees.

On the future of soft drink companies, however, weighs the imminent entry into force of the sugar tax, scheduled for July: 'We need to postpone it for another year,' said Cristina Camilli, vice-president of Assobibe, at the presentation of the Nomisma report. 'Faced with a worrying and very delicate scenario, now aggravated by US policies, companies are relying on the government to suspend this 'internal duty' as soon as possible, which will cause a 28% increase in tax per litre that risks seriously penalising consumers and the domestic market.