In 2013, Italy, which is in 3rd place among the major coffee importing countries, is in 10th place for per capita consumption (equal to 7.46% of apparent worldwide consumption and 13.50% of that in the EU). Domestic consumption has shown a decrease in volumes due to both a decrease (slight) in household consumption and the decrease (more significant) in non-household consumption: the per capita consumption of coffee (5.56 kg) has in fact decreased compared to 2012 (-1.24%). In contrast with the European average where per capita consumption (4.94 kg) is up by 2%.
This is according to Patrick Hoffer, Chairman of the Italian Coffee Committee (in the picture), the coordinating body of the national trade associations that operate in the Italian coffee supply chain.
It is a mature and lively market that changes very quickly. This is demonstrated by the portioned segment which, underlines Hoffer “continues to grow, compared to moka ground coffee, essentially stable. In the first few months of the year, the sales of portioned coffee grew by nearly 6%”.
Single-portion coffee production, which also includes the import of special capsules for Nespresso Italia and Nestlé Italia, grew by 9.1% in value in 2013 to 982.0 million euros. Growth, also in 2013, is supported by exports, with an increase of 17.6%, while growth in the domestic market slowed down, +5.3% in 2013, for a market value of 655.0 million euros.
Paper pods decreased by 3.2% with, in addition to the decrease in average selling prices, growth in Large-scale Food Distribution coming to a halt and replacement by capsules in the office channel. Finally, plastic capsules record the biggest decreases, -8.9%, where the significant decrease in average prices in the Office/OCS channel (the main sales channel) has played a very important role, also as a result of the extremely competitive offers advertised through the internet and the negative trend in consumption.
As for exports, Italy represents the 3rd country in Europe in terms of exports of roasted coffee (with approx. 3.2 million bags, equivalent to 186 million kg of green coffee), while, at the worldwide level, it is in 4th place, behind Germany, Belgium and the United States.
