Sliced meats

Cured meats, exports grow strongly but domestic consumption is at a standstill

Critical market issues related to swine fever and high meat costs are not stopping the cross-border race: +13% in 2024 after a good 2023. Pre-packed facilitates spread to new markets, but some remain and now there is a duty alert

13 May 2025

Il fatturato del comparto salumi vale oltre 9,3 miliardi, di cui il 25% matura all’estero

4' min read

In Italy last year sales of cured meats exceeded 7 billion euro, a value up by 0.6% after a jump of almost 7% in 2023 mainly due to higher consumer prices. In terms of quantity in fact (379 thousand tonnes)the balance is down by 1%, followed by an only slightly positive 2023 (Circana data).

Exports 2024 instead yielded 2.38 billion. They are worth about 25% of the sector's turnover and continue to increase: +12.9% in quantity and +9.5% in value in 2024 (above the food industry average of 8.6%) and after the increases of 2023 (+6.2% and +8.7% respectively). They are also results that also discount the damage of the closure to Italian products of some markets - China and Japan in the lead - from the time of the discovery of the first cases of African swine fever on our territory, which date back to early 2022: 20 million per month calculated on the volumes of exports at that time by Assica, the producers' association; therefore, about 800 million are missing from the roll-call.

One only has to compare the two trends to understand howthe future of the sector lies beyond the borders. "The Italian market remains important, but it is heading towards inevitable saturation," comments Davide Calderone, Director of Assica. For some time now there has been little change in consumption, although in recent years there has been a shift towards cured meats with lower added value due to the decline in purchasing power. The only area where we can expect to continue to grow significantly is internationally. It was a brilliant 2024 from this point of view, but the potential is much greater, because it is often forgotten that in cured meats we have few if any real competitors at international level. If we exclude Spain and a few others, which specialise in certain productions, we are the only country that can boast of such a significant and varied offer. Moreover, the export quota is far from that reached by cheeses, for example, which is close to 40 per cent.

The Italian market is also at a standstill due to structural causes linked to demographic trends and eating habits, but it is mainly inflation that has affected consumption. The cost of pork has skyrocketed due to a concomitance of factors: international demand, feed and energy costs, the measures to contain swine fever, which has causedthe slaughter of 100,000 animals in the last two years alone.

Despite the price increase, producers, themselves affected by rising energy costs as well as meat costs, complained of falling profits. On foreign markets, it was probably easier to pass on the costs in price lists or at least work on increasing the quantities sold. In this sense, the case of PDO hams is exemplary, which are suffering in Italy but are performing well abroad.

The growth in exports, however, comes from afar, from the patient work of companies to conquer new market spaces and from the arduous path of breaking down the regulatory and bureaucratic barriers in the health field, which often complicate the free movement of cured meats. Swine fever is only the best known example, and in any case it has not halted the positive trend. "Fortunately, since August, with the installation of the new commissioner Giovanni Filippini, there has been a real change of pace in the fight against Psa, based on an approach that aims to anticipate and prevent the spread of the infection. Correct and shared measures have been put in place and there are concrete signs of containment'.

At the end of April, for example, it was announced that restrictions would be reduced in some important production areas such as those in the Piacenza and Parma areas. "It will probably take a few more years to get out of it, but it is important to know that the road taken is the right one," continues the CEO. Psa has frightened many, but fortunately in the EU there is a scientific approach that provides for gradual restrictions in specific areas. We must continue to work so that more and more countries have the same approach. With Japan there is the hypothesis of reopening the borders to products with a longer maturation period. A processing country like ours, which, PDO aside, imports 40% of the pork necessary for its needs, cannot defend trade barriers'.

The unknown about duties does not help, given that the US has been among the countries where exports have grown the most in recent years (+20% in 2024) and given the possible indirect effects on other markets. "The damage will obviously depend on the final level of duties: if they are not too high, we can try to contain the effect on final prices," says Calderone, who recalls how some Italian companies have invested in the US mainly for plants to slice and package cold cuts that arrive whole from Italy. With advantages in terms of shipping costs, but also quality. More generally, the improvements achieved in pre-sliced preservation have contributed to an increase in exports, making it possible to sell higher quality products where there is no counter service, or to adapt the formats offered to different consumption habits, in terms of quantity or assortment.

Emiliano SgambatoResponsabile Food24
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Luogo: Milano
Lingue parlate: Inglese
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