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This report gives an overview of the Italian food retail and distribution sectors and outlines current market trends, including best product prospects. Italy’s food retail sales reached $167.8 billion in 2021, a 2.9 percent increase compared to 2020 in spite of the lingering COVID-19 pandemic. Increased sales were registered at discount stores (+6.0 percent), hypermarkets (+3.4 percent), supermarkets (+3.3 percent), grocery retailers (+1.2 percent), and convenience stores (+1.2 percent).

In 2021, Chinese imports of alfalfa pellets hit record levels of 52,254 metric tons (MT) and $13.66 million by value, increases of 62 percent and 70 percent respectively. The market is dominated by Spanish-origin pellets.

The Italian food-processing industry continues to be highly fragmented, characterized by a growing consolidation of smaller companies. The leading players tend to employ multichannel strategies, which have helped them to offset food service losses with higher sales in the retail channel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The drought in Andalucía is anticipated to drive down area planted to cotton in Spain in MY2022/23. However, cotton crop area is highly inelastic given the few alternative crops available, and the fact that a significant part of the CAP payment to cotton continues to be linked to production partially offsets the potential area reduction.

In 2021, Spain imported $1.7 billion worth of agricultural, seafood, and forest products from the United States.

Increased production costs, mainly in feed, electricity, and labor, and lower live cattle as well as pork and chicken meat exports are keeping Spanish animal production at current levels, ending the expansion experienced in the last years.

This report is intended to supplement the FAS U.S. Mission to the EU's Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) report with Italy-specific information.

This report is intended to supplement the FAS U.S. Mission to the EU's Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) Certificate report with Italy-specific information.

This report offers information for U.S. companies interested in exporting agri-food products to Italy, including an overview of the country's economic situation, market structure, export requirements, and best product export opportunities.

Spain is a powerhouse for agricultural biotechnology in the European Union, as the country remains the largest grower of biotech corn and a major consumer of feed ingredients.

This report is an update of GAIN report SP2020-0045. It outlines the legislation applicable to the export of U.S. food products to Spain, particularly focusing on those rules that differ from EU legislation.

This report describes production, trade, research, policy, and marketing issues of genetically engineered (GE) plants, animal products, and microbial biotechnology in Italy.