Key Takeaways
- Italian consumers are particularly enthusiastic when it comes to sustainability with high levels of behavioural change to make more sustainable choices in the past 12 months and expectations to “go further” in the future. They are a leading market in a global context, meaning supporting consumers on their sustainability journey is a great opportunity to stand out if exporting to Italy.
- In a global context, Italian consumers are most likely to say sustainability is very important when choosing food and drink, ranked only behind enjoyment, taste and origin.
- For Italians, with a strong food culture, local origin is of paramount importance although not always for reasons regarding sustainability.
- Likewise, high welfare standards are regularly cited as a critical purchasing factor. It is critical throughout Western Europe where a big influence is put on animal health.
- There is great opportunity for sustainability claims to resonate among the most scrutinous consumers of food and drink in Italy. However, make sure you can back them up.
90%
Of Italian consumers claim to have made an effort to buy products with higher welfare standards in the last 12 months, the highest of any market
78%
Say choosing options that are more local will become more important to them in the next 3 years, the highest of any market
56%
Say sustainability is very important when choosing food and drink
Priority Sectors
- Italians are willing to pay a premium for beef that is “close to natural”, that minimises antibiotics and is pasture-raised.
- These factors, alongside local are also prioritised for dairy products. Italian consumers tend to prioritise nutrition, but we see that they are likely to link sustainably-produced products with 'better for their health'. Being able to link human, animal and planetary health in communication will resonate strongly in Italy.
43%
Of Italian beef buyers say beef being grass-fed has an influence on their choice of beef
Prioritisation Graphs
The graphs display which sustainability attributes consumers find most appealing and are most willing to pay a premium for in the priority categories. The horizontal axis is based on the overall appeal of this sustainability measure in this sector, the vertical axis shows the extent to which people would be willing to pay more for this benefit.
Hover over each datapoint for more information and navigate to other categories by clicking the right or left arrow on the navigation bar below each graph.
