Organic food and beverage expenditure -4.6% in 2021, for the first time a drop in consumption

On the food expenditure front for organic products, in 2021, there was a reduction in purchases of organic food and beverages for the first time, and even the first indications for the current year do not bode well. After the excellent performance of 2020 (+ 9.5%), supported by a greater propensity of Italian families to purchase wholesome and healthy food and by the home confinement induced by the lockdown, last year the value of the expenditure contracted. by 4.6%, reaching 3.38 billion euros, even if the incidence of organic products on the total agri-food purchases remained unchanged (3.9%). This is what emerges from the Sinab data presented by Ismea in Rome. The evidence for the first 5 months of 2022, limited only to purchases from large-scale distribution, shows a further reduction of 1.9% on an annual basis, moreover in a context of generalized price growth. What is worrying, in this case, is above all the comparison with conventional agri-food which in the same period marks an encouraging + 1.8%.