An entrepreneurial reality that realizes a production value of 37.5 billion euros (10.2 in agri-food, 1.5 in freight transport; around 25 in commercial distribution; 1.2 in catering. Almost 185,000 employees (26,690 in cooperatives agro-food; 5,080 in freight transport; 128,636 in commercial distribution; 24,210 in catering) and 6.6 million members. This is the consistency of the "integrated" Legacoop agri-food supply chain, the data for which were presented today during the Assembly and developed by the study centre.
The sector therefore represents a driving force of the Italian economy which, however, after a strong recovery in 2021 compared to the decline recorded in the previous year, in 2022 shows a trend reversal.
In the second quarter of the current year, in fact, the demand is stationary for 62% of the cooperatives (against 68% in the first quarter), and the percentage of those who register a negative demand grows by 4 points (from 16% to 20 %).
Expectations, however, are slightly better for the last quarter of the year, in which demand growth forecasts stand at 23% (from 18% in the second), while decreases drop from 20% to 14%.
The average daily wages of full-time workers - emerges from the data of the Legacoop study center - are significantly higher in the cooperatives belonging to Legacoop Agroalimentare than in non-member cooperatives.
And the sector also has a keen eye on sustainability: 52% of cooperatives have activated circular economy projects, 49% have launched processes of digitization of production activity, in the last three years, 57% have activated initiatives for efficiency and energy saving and 44% have equipped themselves with energy production plants.