A survey conducted by FederBio and Assobio revealed that 7 out of 10 families (about 18 million households) bought in the last year at least one organic product and that all the most important indicators are rising: surfaces (+ 7,5% compared to 2014), operators (+ 8.2% compared to 2014), sales (+ 15% compared to 2014). But not only the home market obtained excellent results: exports grew by as much as + 408% compared to 2008 and + 16% compared to 2014.
The Italian families who regularly buy this kind of products in 2015 were 4.5 million, representing 18% of the total. The total turnover recorded by the organic market was 4.3 billion Euros, of which 2.7 were generated by home market and 1.6 by exports, a figure which represents as much as + 21% compared to 2014. Italians who frequently purchased organic products increased by 17% compared to 2014.
Several factors affect the propensity to buy brand organic products: in the first place a high level of education by those who do the shopping (81%), then the income (the penetration rate is highest in families with upper-middle monthly household income - 78% vs. 64% in families with low and average incomes), followed by the presence of children under 12 years (77%). Eating habits also influence the propensity to organic products: in families where there are vegetarians or vegans the penetration rate increases to 87% and even in cases where one or more members of the family have disorders or diseases that require great attention to diet the percentage exceeds the national average (85%).
Encouraged by these successes, the targets of organic production in Italy are still many: regulatory simplification, revision of control systems, allocation of more resources to organic products, coordination of incentives concerning regional development plans, with actions on supply chain policies and interprofessionalism, in addition to new interventions for the promotion of Made in Italy abroad.