Small food shops decreased by 8% in five years. But bakeries and roasters are opening

The data on commercial desertification are alarming, as highlighted by the Fiesa Assembly. Today 885,772 residents no longer have a bakery in their municipality, 1.67 million are without a butcher's shop, 2.12 million without fresh fruit and vegetables. For bread, fish and milk, the numbers exceed 3 million; for the dairy sector they reach 4.54 million citizens. Not only villages: more than 3.8 million people are also without a bakery in municipalities with up to 50,000 inhabitants.

On the organised distribution front, 1,952 municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants - more than one third of the total - no longer even have an independent minimarket or supermarket, totalling 2.3 million residents. If one also considers municipalities with up to 15 thousand inhabitants, the number of residents without a supermarket rises to 3.34 million.

"Territories that, while they stand out for their artisan production, are losing their commercial network. Butcheries, bakeries and small shops only survive if they specialise in a single offer or in cotto (ready-to-eat food). A major impoverishment, especially for small municipalities, which only sees a curb in the emergence ofindependent minimarkets and supermarkets. Exercises that represent almost a quarter of organised food distribution, with a turnover of over EUR 30 billion and 137,800 employees, mostly women. In the small municipalities they are often the only remaining garrison; in the cities they contribute to integrating the offer, also thanks to the significant presence of foreign entrepreneurs and workers,' Erasmi emphasises.

Between 2019 and 2024, the number of outlets in this sector fell from 33,064 to 28,471 (-13.9 per cent), but employment dropped by only 5 per cent, from 145,399 to 137,861 employees. The remaining shops are more structured: the average size rises from 4.4 to 4.8 employees per shop.

The territorial density varies with the size of the municipalities: 7.78 establishments per 10,000 inhabitants in small towns, 4.15 in medium-sized ones, 5.20 in metropolitan areas. In micro-communes, family micro-managements prevail (3 employees on average, 44% with no employees), while in medium-sized cities the number of employees rises to 5.7 and the weight of joint stock companies increases (up to 30% in metropolitan areas).

On the entrepreneurial level, generational imbalances emerge. The average age of sole proprietorships is 52 in small municipalities and drops to 43.3 in large cities. Female entrepreneurship is in the majority (44.2%) and is particularly rooted in fragile territories (54.5% in municipalities with under 5,000 inhabitants). Youth enterprises grow with the urban dimension: from 13.1% in small towns to 28.1% in metropolises. The foreign component exceeds 66% of sole proprietorships in cities with over 250 thousand inhabitants.

On a strictly economic level, according to Fiesa data the sector generated EUR 30.5 billion in 2022, equivalent to 24.1% of the entire organised food distribution. The weight is particularly high in Emilia-Romagna (46.6%), Trentino-Alto Adige (41.9%) and Tuscany (44.8%).

The already fragile network was hit by the price race. As the Fiesa analysis showed, the overall index is +8.1% in 2022 and +5.7% in 2023, falling below 2% in 2024-2025. But foodstuffs had much more pronounced increases. At European level, between 2019 and 2024 food and non-alcoholic beverages prices grow by 33% in the EU, 29.3% in the euro area. Italy shows a lower increase of 24.7%, but still significant.

The effect on consumption is clear. At constant prices, between 2019 and 2024, total expenditure grows by 1.9%, while expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages decreases by more than 4 billion (-2.7%). The most pronounced declines are in oils and fats (-33.9%), fish (-9.8%), confectionery (-6.4%) and fruit (-4.5%). Food sales in value increased by 14.1%, but in volume fell by 10.1%: households paid 14% more to buy 10% fewer products.

In order to defend their purchasing power, consumers seek lower prices, squeezing the margins of neighbourhood businesses, which have less room for manoeuvre than large retailers.

"Against the closures and the consequent impoverishment of the territories," concludes Fiesa president Daniele Erasmi, "our proposal, which is that of the entire Confesercenti, is clear: call for the application ofa tax on web transactions. Countries like France have already adopted such measures, applied in different areas. According to our estimates, with the introduction of a 1% tax rate, applied to the turnover achieved by large foreign companies on online sales, we could obtain about 400 million euro in tax revenue that could help both companies and the citizens themselves, who are often 'orphans' of commercial activities, even of primary goods'.

"Another proposal that we are submitting to the government," Erasmi adds, "is to create a tax advantage for residents of municipalities under 5,000 inhabitants. This would also encourage the repopulation of disadvantaged areas and, at the same time, decongest the overcrowded big cities'.