Giorgio Santambrogio, Chief Executive Officer of the VéGé Group

During this pandemic year, rather than trends, we have noticed phases. At first, we almost witnessed a "war economy" with bulk purchases of everyday, long-lasting products, such as dry semolina pasta, or easily used prepared products. When it became clear that the emergency was going to be prolonged but that products were still available in the supermarkets, we moved on to what I call the "home cook" phase, in which we moved from preparations to ingredients, such as flour, with the famous case of yeast, which had become almost unobtainable. In general, the quest for safety has affected the bulk product by favouring the packaged product, for example fruit in trays rather than to be weighed.

We are now witnessing a gradual return to normality, although the pandemic has certainly accelerated some phenomena already underway, such as the growing attention to sustainability. However, outside of some more conscious consumer groups, we still don't see in the average user a great willingness to pay more for a more sustainable product. More than a product aspect, sustainability seems to be perceived as a reputational aspect, i.e. to know that the brand you are using has a sustainable and socially responsible approach.

A strong paradigm shift that we have been witnessing for some time and that also accelerated during the pandemic is the reversal of the concept of loyalty. We have moved from consumer loyalty to the brand to the brand's loyalty to the consumer, to whom it must make multiple purchasing channels available and to which the customer turns in various ways, even changing brands, according to different needs. I often talk about a "penta-touch point" model, meaning that there are five channels that are complementary to the store: direct home delivery, click & collect, locker, online shopping platforms and home delivery platforms. This change will, of course, also mean major changes for logistics, which is under increasing pressure.

As far as the point of sale is concerned, where 97.2% of Food & Beverage purchases still take place, we should aim at a quality multisensory experience, complementary to the other channels where more "ordinary" products are preferred.