Unsold food and wine have risen to 1.1 million tons since the beginning of the pandemic due to the collapse of the activities of bars, taverns, restaurants, pizzerias and agritourisms that overwhelms entire sectors of the Made in Italy agri-food industry.
This is what emerges from an analysis by Coldiretti which highlights the presence of thousands of farmers, breeders, fishermen, winegrowers and cheesemakers who suffer together with the restaurateurs in the square with the Fipe.
The agricultural organization stresses that "it is estimated that 330 thousand tons of beef, 270 thousand tons of fish and seafood and about 220 million bottles of wine have never arrived in the last year on the tables of the premises forced to an exhausting stop and go without the possibility of planning purchases even for highly perishable products ".
Coldiretti notes that "forced closures, limitations in opening hours, travel bans, a drastic drop in tourist numbers and the widespread diffusion of smart working have devastated the budgets of catering services and dramatically cut employment levels, but the consequences are also being felt. directly on suppliers ".
It is specified in detail that "the drastic reduction in activity weighs on the sale of many agri-food products, from wine to beer, from meat to fish, from fruit to vegetables which find an important outlet market in out-of-home consumption".
Coldiretti adds that "to the economic and occupational damage is added the risk of extinction for over 5 thousand local food and wine specialties, from cheeses to cured meats to sweets, due to the lack of market outlets due to the absence of tourists and the closure of restaurants and agritourisms where traditions from fields to table have been handed down for centuries ".
As regards wine in particular, Coldiretti reports that there are about 200 million liters more unsold in Italian cellars than last year due to the closure of restaurants, bars and wine bars in Italy and abroad;
a situation that has caused consumption outside the home to collapse with serious difficulties for the wine sector, more accentuated for wines with denominations of origin and geographical indication, with greater added value.
According to the latest update made available by the Ministry of Agriculture as of March 31, 2021, 5.6 billion liters of unsold wine lie in the cellar.
These are high quality productions in a country like Italy which is world leader ahead of France with the tricolor production destined for about 70% to Docg, Doc and Igt wines with 332 wines with controlled designation of origin (Doc), 73 wines with controlled and guaranteed designation of origin (Docg), and 118 wines with typical geographical indication (Igt) recognized in Italy and the remaining 30% for table wines.
At stake, concludes Coldiretti, is the future of the first Made in Italy agri-food export sector that develops a turnover of 11 billion euros and generates job opportunities for 1.3 million people.
(HANDLE).