THE PRODUCTION OF PASTA IN ITALY AND WORLDWIDE

Thanks to its versatility, great taste, ease in preparation and great openness of international markets, pasta has seen its production skyrocket over the years. Here are some data:

In the last 10 year (2009 - 2019) the worldwide consumption of pasta has more than doubled (+66 %) and Italy is still the first producer in the world. From 1914, a record year for pasta production, with 70’000 tons produced, Italy moves on to 3,4 million tons in 2019, marking an increase of 5000% in pasta production in just over a century. Italy maintains its title as “the best pasta producer” thanks to the innovation and quality that its companies infuse in their product: 120 companies create almost 5 billion of added value, investing 10% of their turnover in research and development to improve the product and its sustainability.

Other countries have also mobilized to face the ever increasing demand for pasta in the world: Italy’s most avid competitor is Turkey, who in the last decade has increased its pasta production by almost double, passing from 850,000 in 2011 to over 1.5 million tons in 2019. Due to the huge amount of capital involved in the “Made In Italy” labeled market, many foreign companies create products that refer to Italian products in order to maximize sales, although no phase of their production took place in Italy. This is a sadly known phenomenon called “Italian Sounding” which is estimated to involve an annual turnover of 54billion euros, almost double the amount of Italian agri-food exports, damaging the image and the market of Italian products abroad.