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Food Equipment: a sector worth 45 billion euros

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Update time : 2018-05-22 11:56:33


Food Equipment is a key component of the Italian manufacturing industry, but how much is it actually worth? To try to answer this question HostMilano commissioned the research company Ulisse to carry out a series of analyses. It found that the sector has been growing by about 5-6% annually in recent years and that in the last two-year period it was worth45 billion euros. Growth has been seen in particular at the mid to high end of the market, which now accounts for more than 42% of the world total, compared with 24% ten years ago. Canada and Germany – along with Japan, France and the UK – are the driving force behind demand. In 2016 Italy was the world’s third largest exporter, with sales worth over 3.26 billion euros. For the three-year period 2017-2019, North America, Europe, Russia, United Arab Emirates, the FarEast and Australia look set to lead the way on import growth.

This is also a good period also for public establishments, with coffee the undisputed star of the moment. The Coffee–Coffee-Making Machinery–Vending Machine sector recorded an average annual increase over the decade close to 10%. In 2016 world demand reached a new high of nearly 15 billion euros, with flows at the high end standing at 30% of the global total (as against 9% ten years earlier) and with the mid-to-high bracket covering 22% (7 points higher than ten years earlier). France, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Canada and the United States are the main mature markets, but China and Hong Kong, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Australia are growing. In 2016 sales in Italy totalled 2.47 billion euros and over the next three years the very positive growth rate looks set to continue (at an annual average of +6.9%).
As for the raw material itself, green coffee, figures drawn up by the the Italian Coffee Committee (CIC) from ISTAT data indicate that in 2016 we imported over 1.28 billion euros worth of coffee and re-exported 31.6 million euros worth of the product. We also imported decaffeinated green coffee worth 8.3 million euros and re-exported around 890,000 euros worth.

World trade in the sector of Machinery and Appliances for Bread, Cakes and Biscuits was 2.1 billion euros in 2016, which was also a positive development, with the annual average up 5.1% between 2000 and 2008 and up 4.1% in more recent years. In this sector Italian firms are world leaders, with over 600 million euros of sales. The main markets are the United States, France, Russia, Mexico, Algeria and Egypt, with values in excess of 20 million euros in each case.

In the Furnishings and Tableware sector, finally, Ulisse found that world trade in the current decade was positive, with an annual average growth of around 6%, and in the last two years world demand led to revenues totalling 142 billion euros. In 2016 the best-performing divisions were Furniture and Furnishing Elements (71.8 billion euros), Fabrics (38.4 billion euros); Glasses and Crockery (25.3 billion euros); and Knives and Cutlery (6.2 billion euros). Italy is the world’s fifth largest exporter, with 6.53 billion euros, mainly in the premium-price segments, particularly furniture: the high and mid-to-high price brackets account for a quarter of the world total (five percentage points higher than ten years earlier). Switzerland and Austria are the main mature markets, with growth now also being seen in China and Hong Kong and, in more recent years, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam and United Arab Emirates. The three years to 2019 are expected to bring confirmation of this trend, with an annual average growth rate of +5.3%.

So Italian is very well placed indeed in all sectors that around food: according ANIMA, Assofoodtec and FIAC, which bring together many associate firms belonging to the divisions of household goods, espresso coffee makers, commercial refrigerating equipment, slicing machines, meat mincers and related products, say that the Italian tableware market is worth 4.9 billion euros, with exports accounting for 3.2 billion euros (66%). This makes it a particularly strong sector in the country’s economy, on a par with the much more prestigious fields of fashion and design, and one that employs a total workforce of 22,000.
So these firms are crucial to Italy’s manufacturing industry, and they will be showing off their latest products and innovations at HostMilano as they do every two years. Forecasts for 2017 suggest a positive trend in the coming months with an increase in terms both of production (+0.7%) and exports (+0.8%). There are no negative trends to be found in any areas of the macro-sector of food across Italy’s mechanical industry.

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