Origin, price and seasonality: the three-tier hierarchy emerging from the survey by the Research Department. Young people and older consumers experience national food in very different ways

For more than half of Italians, the first criterion when buying food is the Italian origin of the product. Some 51% identify it as the main determining factor, ahead of price (41%), seasonality and zero-kilometre sourcing, both at around 34%. This leadership appears solid. But just beneath the surface, a fault line emerges: 89% of Italians have noticed recent increases in food prices and 48% have already changed their purchasing habits as a result. Made in Italy is appreciated, chosen and defended, but it carries a price that a growing number of Italians are struggling to afford.

This is the central tension emerging from the Cia - Italian Farmers Trend study, “Cultivating Security, Attracting the Future”, produced by the organisation’s Research Department and presented today in Rome during the 9th National Elective Assembly.

IDENTITY, YES, BUT WITHIN LIMITS – The willingness to pay more for a certified Italian product is almost universal across the sample. But the condition is always the same: “within certain limits”. It is a response shared across all age groups, genders and geographical areas. This is not a sign of weakness for Brand Italy: it is the snapshot of a conscious consumer under pressure, someone who wants to make the right choice but cannot always afford to do so.

The generational divide, however, is marked. The Italian origin of a product is decisive for 62% of over-55s, but only for 35% of those aged 18 to 24. Younger consumers, by contrast, attach greater importance to the ethical dimension of a product: 30% of 18-24 year-olds cite it, compared with 13% of over-55s. This is not indifference towards Made in Italy: it is a different vocabulary for saying, at least in part, the same thing.

For Cia - Italian Farmers president Cristiano Fini, these figures must be read within a strategic perspective: “Consumers recognise the quality of Italian products, but the system still fails to ensure that this value translates into a fair price along the entire supply chain, starting with farmers,” he said. “That is why we are proposing concrete tools: an institutional portal on unfair practices, certification systems that protect a minimum share of the final price for the primary producer, and tax incentives for those who buy Made in Italy agricultural products. Consumers want to make the right choice: we must make it accessible.”

ONE OF THE ENEMIES IS CALLED ITALIAN SOUNDING – Among the perceived risks for the Italian agri-food sector, energy costs top the list, identified as the main threat by the majority of respondents. But fake Made in Italy weighs more heavily than low-cost foreign competition, at 45%. In fact, 52% of Italians believe Italian Sounding damages both the image and the sales of genuine Italian products. A further 27% explicitly refer to a loss of market share. Only 21% believe its impact is either negligible or even positive.

The perceived damage to producers is always greater than the perceived damage to consumers themselves: a sign that Italians feel, at least in part, that they are on the right side — the side of those who recognise the problem, even if they do not always solve it through their shopping basket. Here too, age is a decisive factor. Young people tend to see Italian Sounding as an economic threat. Adults experience it as an identity wound: among those aged 55 and over, 64% see it as damaging the image of genuine Made in Italy, compared with 33% of 18-24 year-olds.

WHERE ITALY HAS NO RIVALS – In terms of global positioning, Italian food holds firm. Some 58% of consumers believe that people abroad who buy Italian food products are looking for quality and authenticity. For one Italian in five, Made in Italy agri-food simply has no rivals: there is no sector in which foreign products are perceived as superior. Only 13% mention food as an area in which other countries excel, compared with 38% who indicate technology and electronics and 34% who cite the automotive sector.

And yet 43% of respondents believe Italian excellence is recognised only in certain specific categories: wine, pasta and olive oil. Its reputation is seen as concentrated rather than widespread. This is a limitation Cia - Italian Farmers intends to address by promoting the system of Geographical Indications in inland areas — a strategic asset for Made in Italy that remains under-represented on international markets.

“Italian agricultural products are worth far more than the three iconic categories,” Fini stressed. “We need to build a ‘new pact’ with consumers based on a One Health vision: the economic health of farms, the environmental health of territories, and the health of the people who eat. Every conscious purchase is a political act. Short supply chains, farmers’ markets and direct sales are the most effective tools for making that pact concrete and part of everyday life.”

A PRAGMATIC CONSUMER, A SYSTEM IN NEED OF REFORM – The overall picture is that of a consumer who is neither naïve nor indifferent: Italians recognise the value of Italian food, defend its primacy, but constantly negotiate this preference against the constraints of their wallets. Made in Italy remains strong symbolically; it is in terms of affordability that it risks losing ground.

According to Cia - Italian Farmers, the answer cannot be limited to communication. Value must be redistributed more fairly along the supply chain, agricultural producers must be protected from unfair competition, and the Italian choice must become genuinely advantageous — not only the right one.

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• Cristiano Fini, president of Cia – Italian Farmers