The turnover of carnival sweets amounts to six hundred million euros, with a market that is registering a constant increase: in two years it has grown by 20%.
With confectioners' and bakers' efforts to contain prices, prices have increased by an average of around 5% in a year "despite the sharp rise in raw material and energy prices".
This is what emerges from a survey conducted by Cna Agroalimentare (National Confederation of Crafts and Small and Medium Enterprises) among its members from all over Italy.
The study shows that chiacchiere are the most loved carnival sweets with a regional geography that sees chiacchiere as protagonists in Lombardy, Piedmont, Campania, Sicily and almost all of the South.
In Lazio and Rome, however, the winners are the frappe.
In Tuscany cenci predominate, bugie in Liguria, ciarline in Emilia, fiocchetti in Romagna, crostoli in Friuli Venezia Giulia.
After the sweets symbol of the carnival, a key role in the celebrations - reports Cna Agroalimentare - is the local cuisine in "its extreme variety" with numerous typical products.
Among the best-selling products are tortelli (in Lombardy and other areas of the North);
Venetian fritole;
the Venetian galans;
the Friulian bujarnik;
pancakes, cenci, schiacciate in Tuscany;
the strufoli or struffoli in Naples and throughout the former Kingdom of the two Sicilies, with the pignolata variant on the island.
Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia are instead the regions - according to a
In the top 15 of the Italian provinces where the most money is spent on the purchase of carnival sweets, the first position is held by Rome, followed by Milan in second place and Turin in third place.
