The PDO buffalo mozzarella sector from Campania is growing, but is paying for last year's difficult situation.
This is the picture that emerges at the presentation of the first economic observatory on the supply chain, created by the Consortium for the protection of buffalo mozzarella from Campania DOP in collaboration with Unicredit and Nomisma.
Campania buffalo mozzarella is the PDO cheese with the highest production growth in the period 2016-2022, with an increase of 26% against an average of 10% for PDO certified cheeses.
The export data is also positive, with a 9% increase in volume in the last year compared to 2021, which helps to bring the production turnover of the supply chain to 530 million.
Positive notes which, however, collide with growing concern about the stability of the sector, as underlined by the president of the Consortium, Domenico Raimondo.
"The current economic situation puts the sector at risk, with the weight of the increase in energy costs for production which has severely reduced the profitability of many companies.
High inflation, which is 17% for cheese and dairy products, has dangerously reduced profitability despite the excellent production data", said Raimondo on the sidelines of the presentation of the economic observatory on the supply chain.
"As a government we must protect the quality of Italian products, despite the push to relocate. By monitoring the supply chains, even greater value is added, the consumer is even more guaranteed, who is looking for good food and finds it in Italian production", said Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty.
"Companies in the Italian sector are holding up well despite the complex period like the current one, but to strengthen their competitiveness it is important to think of new business models built on medium and long-term strategies", concluded Annalisa Areni, head of Unicredit client strategies .
(HANDLE).