Sales of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese reached an all-time high of €2.7 billion in 2021, up from €2.35 billion the previous year.
Production value was also at an all-time high of €1.71 billion, compared to €1.52 billion a year earlier.
Production grew by 3.9%, year on year, to 4.09 million wheels (around 163,000 tonnes) – the highest value in the history of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium.
Over the last four years, production has increased by 10.6%, while 2020 was also a record year, the consortium said.
Stable Market Price
Parmigiano Reggiano reported a stable market price in 2021, averaging at €10.34/kg, with limited price fluctuations of €10.25/kg to €10.40/kg.
This compares to a 2020 average of €8.57/kg and €10.76/kg in 2019, prior to the start of the pandemic.
Italy accounted for 55% of the market, or 89,101 tonnes in 2021 – up 4.5% on pre-pandemic levels (85,258 in 2019) – but down by 1.3% on 2020, a year in which domestic consumption boomed due to the first lockdown.
Large-scale grocery retail remains the main distribution channel (51%) for Parmigiano Reggiano, followed by direct sales from dairies, which reported a strong increase (14%).
The HoReCa channel accounted for 7% of the total, compared to 2% in 2020 due to pandemic restrictions. The remaining 8% is distributed in other sales channels.
The export share is 45% (+2.9% on 2020), with the United States the leading market (21% of total exports) for exports, followed by France (19%), Germany (17%), the UK (11%) and Canada (5%).
Most European markets also grew, particularly Switzerland (+14.7%) and Sweden (+13.2%). Losing ground is the UK (-15.6%), with Brexit playing a factor, and Germany (-1.9%) – however the latter has posted significant growth compared to 2019.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Fresh Produce news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
