Not just designer panettone: how the pastry business grows at Christmas
Sales of handcrafted panettone cakes estimated to be up by 10-15% (Apei data), but there is no shortage of innovative proposals, including nougats, chocolate and candies
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Key points
4' min read
Christmas is synonymous with conviviality, warmth and, above all, sweetness. Across Europe, Christmas confectionery consumption does not seem to be afraid of the crisis and is estimated to continue growing.
Marta Boccanera, vice-president Apei-Ambassadors Pastry Chefs of Italian Excellence, predicts a significant increase in sales of artisan panettone (+10-15%) and a doubling of volumes for pandoro, despite the increase in raw material prices. And the production of more 'industrial' panettone and pandoro is also expected to grow. It is no coincidence that a Swg survey for Deliveroo shows that 66% of Italians consider panettone to be the Christmas dessert par excellence, to be shared with the family.
In addition, "in December 2023, 85 million portions of sweets were consumed outside the home, including cakes, spoon desserts and pastries," says Matteo Figura, out of home market expert and foodservice area director for Circana Italy - with double-digit growth compared to the previous year. December is the month of highest consumption for this category with 22% more consumption than the average month in the year. For this year, although the category has slowed down during the first ten months, we expect further growth for December compared to 2023'.
The 80th anniversary of Vergani and the limited editions
.The Milanese groupVerganiccelebrating its 80th anniversarywith two new recipes combining chocolate with dates, figs and nuts. "Business is going very well, we are registering a growth of 20% compared to last year," explains Andrea Raineriof Vergani, "our forecast is to close 2024 turnover at 23 million euro, compared to 19 million in 2023 . This success is due to our ability to guarantee a handcrafted quality product even in large numbers. The growth concerns both the domestic and foreign markets:in some countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Spain and Greece, in fact, we have had to stop incoming orders as early as 15 days, unlike previous years, orders from abroad arrived as late as October, but this year we are still receiving requests, especially from the specialised retail channel. In Italy, our top sellers are the Panettone Classico, followed on a par by the gourmet recipes with chocolate (such as Cioccolato e Pere or ai Tre Cioccolati) and the Caramello Salato, which is increasingly popular.
Giovanni Cova & C., part of the Idb Group, introduces the brand BreraMilano1930, which offers limited edition lines such as the one dedicated to Puccini. Galup revisits Christmas with the Panettone Gran Galup accompanied by a tombola included in the package, while Starbucks Italia launches the Panettone Toffee Twist, embellished with caramel chocolate and sanded peanuts, born from the collaboration between Starbucks and Italo Vezzoli's artisan pastry shop, an emblem of artisan tradition for three generations.
