Covid-19 increases the food expenditure of Italian families by 7% in the first quarter on an annual basis. This is the strongest variation in the last ten years due to the restrictions imposed to face the spread of coronavirus throughout the national territory since the end of February. As for the three super star products in the cart are eggs with a record sales of 14%, oils and cereal derivatives with 8%. This is what emerges from Ismea's consumption report on the first three months of 2020, after the shy + 0.4% recorded at the end of 2019.
The data showed a decided + 18% of household consumption in March which boosted the whole quarter. Reporting the report are the consumer products packaged with + 9.7% to which attention was paid most in the first weeks of emergency; but also for fresh products, spending reverses the trend and becomes positive (+ 1.1%). In March alone, sales for packaged products increased by 20% and those for fresh bulk products by 9%. To lose positions in the trolley in an emergency, are the drinks which, although increasing by 5.2% on an annual basis, show a less decisive impulse differently from previous periods compared to food. All sectors, the report still points out, have expenditure increases ranging from 4% to 14%. If sales of eggs, oils and cereal derivatives shine, below the average there are wines (+ 4.2%) and fish products (+4.3), despite the preserved fish starting from canned tuna, at the start of the emergency, one of the most sought after products with weekly sales increases of 20%.