Kick-starting discussions at this national conference was the observation that with a turnover of 132 billion euro and a workforce of 385,000 people, the food industry confirmed its position in 2013 as a leading sector of the Italian economy, holding up well against cyclical pressures despite the difficulties. If this purely quantitative analysis is then combined with the positive perception – widely-held especially abroad – of Italian flair and creativity, there is every reason to be optimistic in the run-up to Expo 2015, which offers a key opportunity for boosting development of the sector and identifying new growth trajectories.
Faced with the challenge of globalization, the Italian food and agriculture industry is called upon to strike a happy medium between tradition and innovation, and between quality craftsmanship of products and commercial sustainability, in a market governed by an entirely new set of rules and pace. Given this scenario, the consensus was that the country must rally together around its primary strengths: quality products and unique local identities. In this regard, it was stressed that the variety of Italy’s natural heritage and its wealth of products need to be captured through the development of an encapsulating national brand capable of evoking the extraordinarily rich diversity of the country’s offerings. The participants also viewed distinctiveness and excellence as the key values with which to address the thorny issue of fake and Italian-sounding products (a market with an estimated value of 60 billion euro), a problem it was felt cannot be resolved by pursuing a purely regulatory approach.
In terms of how the sector is organized, there was a perceived need to rethink both distribution strategies, which tend to be too national in scope, as well as the various steps in the value chain, with a view to forging a new alliance between agriculture, industry and distribution. With respect to public intervention, it was suggested that any measures taken should be aimed at supporting the optimization of the food and agriculture industry as a priority for the country’s growth. The participants pointed, on the one hand, to an urgent need for a serious policy putting in place land and sea protective and conservation measures, and on the other, to the necessity of instigating a strategic plan to assist Italian firms to overcome competitive disadvantages, including systemic insufficiency of raw materials, the limited size of firms, excessive labor, energy and land costs, infrastructure lags, and the fragmentation of export promotion efforts.
It was emphasized, however, that the real challenge which Expo 2015 sets for countries taking part is that of addressing the issues of nutritional education and food security. In this regard, Italy was held up as the nation with the lowest number of agro-food products containing chemical residues, making it an ideal role model for the sector. It was felt that much remains to be done in this area to draw on this untapped potential. Indeed, promoting a healthy eating culture would enable the quality of Italian-made food products to be highlighted, along with the development of sustainable lifestyles, with positive social and economic implications. Skillfully combining taste and wellbeing, and tradition and new styles of consumption, was considered a strategic tool for supporting new Italian exports. Indeed, Italy’s growth potential was seen as hinging on the emergence of demand for quality, beauty and culture, and on the spread of consumers with high spending power, a demographic that has already bought into the experience that Italian food offers.
In concluding the discussions, it was noted that while a billion people worldwide are at risk of obesity, 800 million live with the scourge of malnutrition: in Italy alone, 450 thousand children consume their only meal at school. The success of the Milan Expo was thus seen as hanging on its ability to offer possible answers to questions such as how to go about ensuring healthy and nutritious food, and which policies to pursue in order to keep the food price index in check, in a sector traditionally considered stable. For in the final analysis, it is to the extent that principles such as solidarity and community enable commerce and values – and the market and the common good – to be reconciled that true sustainability can be ensured in the future growth models of Italy and of all humanity.