Regarding the confectionery industry, after the struggle of the COVID period, recovery prospects have begun to manifest, with the approach of Christmas festivities that have seen the demand for traditional preparations such as pandoro and panettone rise. On one hand, all companies in the sector seem to focus on products marketed under private label (which occupy 19.7% of the Italian Food market, with a growth of 2%) and on channel diversification: services such as e-commerce and home delivery are in fact destined to remain, although neighborhood stores also seem to be on the rise.
The confectionery industry’s offer must be varied and capable of proposing complete product ranges (including those intended for niche markets such as vegans and gluten intolerants), to adapt to the demands of new targets that are extremely demanding by nature.
Attention to the sustainability aspect is now more than ever at its peak, pushing consumers to make increasingly responsible purchases also in the Food sector. Confectionery companies will therefore not be able to ignore the new market rules, and to emerge they will have to pay attention to the quality and nutritional values of ingredients, the sustainability of packaging, but also to the history and “tradition” of confectionery preparations: territoriality will be rewarded, as will the return to the origins of “healthy and genuine” and the long experience of manufacturing houses.
Analyzing the Christmas holiday period, when the increase in confectionery sector sales is strong, it is observed how the rise in raw material and energy costs is beginning to be reflected also on typical Christmas sweets, panettone and pandoro. In this Christmas, in fact, to put them on the table we will have to spend something more. A price survey by Federconsumatori speaks of double-digit increases.
In general, although the market related to occasions has suffered a decline (*), panettone confirms itself as the Christmas sweet par excellence.
(*) Industrial panettone remains the most solid segment despite having suffered a decline of -2.5% settling at 217 million euros in the last Christmas campaign 2020. The artisanal segment cannot balance this trend despite organic and transversal growth, which now stands at 118.5 million euros (+3.2% compared to the previous year) and a general increase in penetration (+10%) concentrated especially in the South and North-West, also in 2021. As a direct consequence of this evidence, there is a cannibalization effect of the artisanal segment on the premium segment of the industrial segment (identified by products above 10 euros per kg): whose value drops by 11% reaching a figure equal to 23.6 million euros. While the industrial mainstream segment offer, thanks to the price lever, decreases less importantly (-7.5%), settling at almost 75 million euros.
A study by CSM Ingredients-NielsenIQ shows that panettone continues to maintain its appeal: 7 out of 10 families continue to buy it at Christmas and half choose artisanal products, considering them a perfect Christmas gift. The analysis shows that about three quarters of purchases occur between December and January with an average spend of 25 euros, but the most interesting data is that there is a constant increase in early demand for panettone, opening new interesting scenarios beyond the holidays, particularly in the months of October, November and January.
The sector is driven by young consumers, attentive to choices and looking for a high-quality product, and the growing digitalization of sales channels. The preference for online panettone purchases is also growing, preferred by 20% of consumers: an index of strong digitalization of habits that is affecting the world of Italian pastry, including small laboratories.
Therefore, Italian families increasingly choose the artisanal recipe, thanks to a varied and curated offer that meets new profiles of young consumers looking for premium products. The research promoted by CSM Bakery Solutions and structured thanks to Nielsen’s contribution entitled “The panettone market in Italy: evolution in consumption, analysis of the reasons behind the choices of new buyers and sales channels of the iconic Italian sweet” highlights the evolution of panettone consumption in a market where the economic value of the artisanal proposal is growing compared to the industrial one.
Amazon plays a leading role in this context: the platform allows SMEs to extend their distribution service of products throughout the Italian territory but also on a European scale, exploiting the lever of craftsmanship and made in Italy.
The search term pandoro gives the following results:
Italy > 2.000 results
UK 236 results (176 for italian panettone)
Germany 594, ma > 2.000 for “panettone italienisch”
France > 1.000 results / 360 for “panettone italien” / 297 for “panettone italien artisanal”
The search term pandoro gives the following results:
Italy > 1.000 results
UK 126 results
Germany 183 results
France 253 results
Analyzing the ranking of searches in the weeks between the last of November and the first of December, we find:
Italy
1st place: Advent Calendar
510th position: Artisanal Panettone
609th position: Panettone
1,803rd position: Pandoro
UK
1st place: Christmas decorations
3,309th position: Artisanal Panettone
GERMANY
1st place: Adventskalender 2021
6,775th position: Panettone
FRANCE
1st place: Calendrier de l’avent
7,384th position: Panettone
From the analysis of brand keywords, dedicated searches emerge for specific Italian brands that have been able to bring their artisanal Made in Italy production abroad.