T. Ozbun
Research expert covering food retail and all food topics for Italy and Brazil
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The volume of beer imported into Italy over the past seven years has remained fairly stable, while the volume of exports has shown steady growth, confirming how the total amount of beer produced in the country has grown. The main imports came from Belgium and Luxembourg, while exports went to the U.K. by a large margin compared to other countries. The increase in beer production was inevitably accompanied by an increase in sales, which, after steady growth, were only partially curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic also confirmed an ongoing trend over the past decade, with the growth of off-trade sales at the expense of on-trade sales. Beer sales in Italy mostly took place under the Heineken company name, which owned some of the most famous national brands such as Moretti, Ichnusa, and Messina. Other sales occurred under other brands such as Peroni, owned by the Japanese Asahi Breweries, and Anheuser-Busch InBev, clearly showing that more than 60 percent of the share of beer sales were from foreign-owned companies.Consumption
Although Italy ranked among the top beer-consuming countries in Europe, this was mainly due to the size of its population. In fact, when considering per capita consumption, Italy ranked second to last, just above Greece. Nevertheless, beer consumption has been on the rise, and the share of beer drinkers has grown to comprise just over half of the country’s population. Although the popularity of beer was more widespread among men, the share of women consuming beer has grown steadily in recent years. However, as with other types of alcohol, Italians seemed to prefer moderate consumption, preferring to drink beer with meals, particularly at dinner.
