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Tuttofood kicks off in Milan: agrifood exports seek new outlets beyond the US

Exports continue to be the strong point of the wine & food sector and despite the threat of duties they grew by 8.4% at the beginning of the year. For the CEO of Fiere Parma, Antonio Cellie, companies are solid and ready to conquer markets that are still little-trodden such as South America and India

by Micaela Cappellini

3' min read

3' min read

The country's leading manufacturer, the leading production chain in terms of contribution to GDP, the Italian food industry is also starting 2025 with growing numbers. And exports remain its driving force, despite the threat of American duties: +8.4% is the increase in sales of Italian food & wine on international markets recorded by ICE in January 2025 compared to the same month in 2024, perfectly in line with the positive trend (+8.6%) recorded last year.

For this reason, companies continue to bet on exports and to preside over trade fairs: "Duties are a problem but also an opportunity, because those who pay the highest price are basic products and not premium products such as Italian ones," says Antonio Cellie, managing director of Fiere di Parma, which in addition to Cibus from this year also manages Tuttofood, the exhibition dedicated to made-in-Italy foodstuffs, which kicks off today 5 May in the halls of Fiera Milano in Rho.

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In short, Trump's protectionism should not be too scary: 'In the US,' says Cellie, 'the products of local companies will always be less competitive than ours, even in the event of tariffs. Let's take a premium Italian red wine, which today costs half as much in a restaurant as a Napa Valley red: even in the event of tariff increases, it will never exceed the price of the Californian bottle'. Even going to produce directly in the US to get around the duty problem might not be the best way: 'The US,' Cellie says, 'is a country heading for recession. So what is the way? 'Engage in other geographies,' suggests the CEO. 'In Italy we have companies of all sizes, capable of rapidly changing target markets.

According to the data collected by Ice in January, the five top performing countries in the agri-food sector - i.e. those that recorded the highest percentage variation among the top 20 importing countries of Italian agri-food products - are in order Canada (+24%), Poland (+21%), Spain (+19%), Australia (+17%) and Belgium (+16%).

'The Spanish market is doing very well for us,' Cellie also confirms, 'Poland, in particular, is an interesting marketplace. In terms of consumer tastes it is very similar to Germany, which has always been our first market for agri-food exports: if the Poles consumed as much Made in Italy per capita as the Germans, we would have solved the problem of US duties'.

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With the axe of star-spangled protectionism advancing, European institutions seem to be looking with renewed interest at alternative countries - or blocs of countries - with which to forge free trade agreements. One of these is India. Which, however, says Cellie, is not necessarily a good horizon for the food industry: 'The Indians have a very different food culture from ours and profoundly different tastes, much more spicy. In a Japanese restaurant, for example, you find some Italian delicacies, in India you don't'.

More interesting, according to Fiere di Parma's CEO, are the prospects offered by Mercosur, with which the EU has just signed a free trade agreement that has yet to be ratified. And which meets with decisive hostility from the agricultural world. 'I believe instead that the one with Mercosur is a good agreement also for the agri-food sector,' says Cellie, 'the middle class of these countries is growing and has very similar food tastes to ours. Moreover, the agreement protects many of our products with denomination of origin, and this is very important because it is in South America that most of the Italian sounding phenomenon is found'.

The world's largest producer of panettone cakes, for example, is Brazil's Bauducco. Also operating in Brazil is Sadia, the brand or founded by the Furlan family, of Veneto origin, which produces many chicken products similar to those created in Italy by Aia.

From the point of view of product sectors, on the other hand, it is fresh cheeses, from burrata to spreads, via Gorgonzola, that are growing strongly on foreign markets today, 'but also with regard to pasta we continue to have an enormous technological advantage,' Cellie adds.

Beware, however, of competition, especially from less-discounted countries: "On foreign markets," says the CEO of Fiere di Parma, "Germany and even more so Austria are going strong not only in dairy products, but also in categories that you would not expect, such as bakery. The Balkan countries are also growing competitors, thanks to an excellent manufacturing tradition and raw materials at competitive prices'. And let's not forget the Portuguese: they make products similar to ours, of quality, but at more competitive prices.

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