More and more Italians, for different reasons, exclude meat, fish or food of animal origin from their table (almost 9% in 2020 and with an increase of 25% compared to the previous year): this is also confirmed by the data Everli - the online shopping marketplace (which operates in over 50 Italian cities with Lidl, Coop, Esselunga, Conad, Carrefour among the supermarkets) - which has examined the orders placed on the website and via the app in the last year and has reported
a
14%
increase in
the purchase of vegetarian and vegan products
in 2020
i compared to the same period in 2019. Entire shelves and refrigerated departments, a choice of products unthinkable a few years ago when for this type of food we went to dedicated supermarkets or specialized bio emporiums and it was a style of nutrition considered to be niche.
Now the 'market' is pulling and so also in large-scale distribution, in large-scale distribution the choice is maximum and the trolleys are becoming increasingly green.
On the vegan table, tofu beats tempeh
,
while vegetarians prefer veggie burgers to croquettes
In the top 10 of the most purchased vegan foods in Italy, among a triumph of condiments and main courses, tofu - a great classic of its veg cousin - wins first place in front of hummus (2nd place) and burgers and mini vegetable burgers (3 Place).
Tempeh, another famous Asian food that characterizes this diet, ranks last in the ranking.
A reversal of the trend for Italian vegetarians who mainly place first and second courses in the ranking and consider
vegetable burgers
an indispensable must-have on their tables.
Vegetarian cutlets (2nd) and Lebanese falafel (3rd) complete the podium, while the top 5 ends with a very Italian first course, lasagna - vegetarian - strictly with meat sauce.
Observing the geographic distribution of purchases, in the regions north of the Peninsula there is a high concentration of
strictly vegan trolleys, with an important peak especially in the Po Valley
, while the vegetarian diet characterizes the entire boot with a greater concentration especially at north center.
Emilia Romagna and Lombardy are the most vegan regions of the boot, while Tuscany is in first place among the vegetarian ones.
Looking at the collected data in detail
and comparing the orders placed online, interesting curiosities about the tastes and habits of Italians emerge from the north to the south of the Peninsula.
Emilia Romagna and Lombardy take first place as the most vegan regions in Italy, with three cities each in the top 10 of the Italian cities with the highest number of online orders in this category: Bologna at the top, Milan in third place and Pavia one step below the podium, followed by Bergamo (6th), Modena (7th) and Parma (9th).
The vegetarians of the boot are mainly concentrated in Tuscany.
Among the 10 provinces that in the last year recorded the highest number of orders for these products, three Tuscan provinces stand out: Florence, Livorno and Pisa, which populate the second part of the ranking, respectively in sixth, seventh and eighth place.
In central and northern Italy in the vegan cart the chickpea hummus triumphs, while in the vegetarian one, green light for burgers and mini burgers with different variations.
But what are the "green" products preferred by Italians and inserted in their virtual carts?
Sales of
ready-to-use chickpea-based cream
are mainly concentrated in some cities in northern and central Italy, in particular Florence, Bologna, Venice and Bergamo.
While the inhabitants of the province of Pesaro and Urbino completely exclude this complete and tasty food from their virtual carts, to replace it with the more particular
vegetable burgers with artichokes and dried tomatoes
.
In the Marche city, the vegetable burgers, in their mini version and with spinach also triumph in vegetarian shopping and together with the variants with grilled vegetables, and flax seeds and pumpkin, they are particularly appreciated also in Bologna, Florence, Forlì-Cesena, Pavia and Pisa.
The Venetians who choose this type of diet, however, in first place among their purchases, include vegetarian lasagna with meat sauce and soy.