The recent Brexit has impacted exports of all Italian products to the UK, with deliveries of agri-food products down by 9% during July 2016.
Italian food and wine producers are likely to loose €280 million per year as a result of Brexit, according to initial estimates by Italian farmers association Coldiretti.
Last year, food and beverage exports to the UK, Italy’s fourth biggest export market, amounted to €2.9 billion.
The negative forecast comes after a very positive performance in the first six months for Italian food and beverage exports, led by wine (exports of €746 million in 2015 and +4% in the first six months of 2016) and prosecco (€275 million in 2015 and +50% in 1H 2016).
Other popular Italian food exports to the UK include pasta (€332 million in 2015), fruit & veg (€281 million in 2015 and +7% in 1H 2016), cheese (€200 million in 2015 and +12% in 1H 2016) and olive oil (€57 million in 2016 and +6% in 1H 2016).
Another reason for concern is the risk of an unfavorable legislation for Italian food exports, including the ‘traffic light’ food labelling system adopted by 98% of UK supermarkets.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
