Packaged food in modern retail is confirmed as the "white swan" of 2020 spending, according to data processed by IRI for TUTTOFOOD. Thanks to a 6.6% growth on the previous year, spending exceeded the psychological threshold of 50 billion, totalling 50.793 billion euro in value: a trend reinforced in December too (+6.6%), with sales of over 5.5 billion (5.514 billion).

Several product categories show double figure rates of growth for the year. The best performing category is Ready meals which, increasing by 15.9%, reached 259 million euro expenditure in value. This was followed by Frozen Foods (+14.1% to 2.248 million euro) and Fresh Condiments (+13.9% to 394 million). Double figures were also seen for Packaged Meat (+13.4% to 943 million euro), Cheese (+12.4 to 3.130 million) and Dairy Products (+10.2% to 1.539 million). In general, the products with the most growth confirm that consumers are looking for products with high levels of convenience.

Ice Cream Exploits, Seasonals on Standby

Above all else in December, the exploit of Ice Cream should be noted, with a remarkable +20.3% increase in sales recorded worth 28 million euro. In stark contrast, Seasonal Products stagnated coming to a standstill at 303 million, partly due to a keen interest in artisanal products over the last few holidays. Among best performing daily products, Frozen Foods took first place again, going for gold with a 15.3% increase (271 million in sales). Coming in at second place was Packaged Meat (+14.8% with 87 million) with cheese close behind (+13.8 with 207 million).

With regards to organic products, after a boom over the last few years, they continue taking root: in December 2020, +3.2% with expenditure of 155 million euro, and over the course of the year 3.4% growth worth a total of well over one and a half billion (1.688 billion). Lastly, in Beverages - using data from November - sales in the retail channel amounted to 78 million euro monthly (-64.7%) and 2.230 million over the course of the year (-31.4%).