In a permanent crisis scenario, Italian consumption slightly resumes growth only on essential goods among which food remains central, thanks to a rooted food culture. The Coop Report 2025 on consumption and lifestyles of Italians shows its evolution.
The scenario
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire Italian (and European) population bounces from crisis to crisis, without any peaceful horizon. Today, the dominant factors are the winds of war, the bellicist ideology diverting resources destined for the welfare society to the economy of rearmament, as well as trade tensions triggered by tariff policies.
The survey 'The New World Outlook', conducted in August by the Coop Study Office in collaboration with Nomisma, collected the opinions of leaders and citizens.
‘For opinion leaders, there are few certainties and not all positive. Spread of artificial intelligence but also rearmament and growth of global public debt. Tensions are also perceived by citizens who fear global wars and climate change. All in a context where a shadow falls on the future making it darker, uncertain, at times catastrophic, reports the Coop Report 2025.
Globalization gives way and China advances
The policy of tariffs announced by the USA on April 2, 2025, marks an epochal shift. Autonomy, resilience, and strategic alliances will be the real currencies of exchange for Italian companies, which fear a drastic downsizing of exports.
The leadership of the United States is undermined by progress of China and India. Today, 70% of the world economies trade mainly with China. The dollar loses value (-9.5% in the first half of 2025), while the latest BRICS summit proposes a payment system alternative to the dollar and interviewed opinion leaders theorize an advancement of the euro (51% of opinions) or the Chinese yuan (43%).
Far from the daily life of the population, the global competition takes place at the level of artificial intelligence, humanoid robots and the space race (satellites first). Europe is dedicated to regulation, China, the United States, and Japan to innovation. In the midst of these great interests, the environmental goals are pressured and reduced, based on their ‘economic sustainability’.
The demography, as is known, marks a drastically declining and aging population throughout the West, contrasted by an increase that will see the population in Africa double in the coming decades. Mitigating the demographic collapse in Europe should be a categorical imperative, which however seems ignored, we add, as demonstrated by the substantial shortage in the support policies of working mothers.
An economy in chiaroscuro
The Italian economy remains stagnant, with a GDP growth forecast estimated at +0.8% for 2025, compared to an EU average of +1.3%. The picture of an economy in chiaroscuro emerges: more investments and a slightly improving labor market, but at the same time weak consumption and declining productivity.
According to Italian opinion leaders interviewed for the Coop 2025 Report, the next budget law should be focused on a few urgent objectives: improve public health, reduce the tax wedge, strengthen education and continuous training, invest in strategic infrastructure, combat poverty and social exclusion, and support birth rate.
The quest for daily wellbeing passes through the table
Consumerism gives way to the pursuit of a sober psychophysical well-being where nutrition maintains a central role. 6 Italians out of 10 indicate a healthy and balanced diet as one of the main measures for self-care. And over 90% of respondents declare they want to increase the habit of cooking at home.
The recovery of . In the next 12-18 months, large segments of consumers will increase their spending: is slow and focused on essential goods. In 2024 the average household expenditure stood at 2,128 euros (+3.9% compared to 2023), but more than half of the budget is absorbed by housing and domestic utilities (291 billion euros), food and non-alcoholic beverages (185 billion), transportation (168 billion). Spending dedicated to personal care, culture, and entertainment is slightly increasing.
An interesting element is the reduction of inequalities. However, this is not caused by an increase in purchasing power of the weaker groups but rather by a reduction in consumption by those formerly more affluent, amid the ongoing erosion of the middle class.
The evolution of food culture
The food also becomes a social language, identity statement, even a political choice. Depending on age and social class, Italians distinguish themselves between guardians of tradition (Mediterranean diet) and innovators (ketogenic, high-protein diets, etc.).
In the middle is the vast majority of Italians, who alternate traditional dishes with innovative foods, such as the hyper-protein vegetable 'burger'. In fact, 9 million Italians seem to have eliminated or at least reduced meat consumption.
Among those under 35, veganism is growing; among the wealthier, organic, gourmet, zero waste diets are increasing.
Food expenditure grows
In the first half of 2025 food expenditure grows by nearly 4% in value and 2% in volume. Inflation – particularly marked in recent years, as shown by the opposite trends in consumption values and volumes, highlighted by the Immagino Observatory – remains however effective. In August 2025, Istat detected a increase in the ‘shopping cart’ from +3.2% to +3.4%. The highest increases, reports the 2025 Coop Report, concern the discount channel and the meat, fish, and grocery sectors.
Fruits and vegetables, beverages and frozen foods drive volumes, with a +2.7% on 2024 and a jump of almost 7 points compared to 2019. But the seasonal fresh fruit – central in the Mediterranean diet – slows down due to reduced production caused by climatic adversities and various other factors (Dongo, 2024).
The overall composition of the cart reveals more attentive and selective consumer. Healthy and functional products, capable of combining taste, health and practicality, are growing. On the other hand, treats such as sweet snacks, chocolate, and snack cakes are declining. The high cost of raw materials – especially cocoa – but also renewed attention to fitness and prevention weigh on this.
Hunting for fixed-price menus
Outside the home the trend is different. The number of customers at venues remains stable compared to 2024 but real spending, net of inflation, decreases. People go out less to eat and look for savings.
The food delivery, which grew a lot during the pandemic, slows down. Six million Italians declare they want to reduce it because home cooking is more convenient, healthier, even more rewarding.
To restart well, the catering sector will have to become a laboratory of innovation, capable of combining taste, sustainability and the right price, concludes the Coop Report 2025.
Health and longevity with the food diet
In 2025 the choice of foods considered beneficial. There is greater awareness of the correlation between food and health: 7 Italians out of 10 read the nutritional label and one out of three declares to follow a more regular eating routine, consisting of functional snacks.
‘Healthy’ today mainly means ‘fresh’. In the first 6 months of 2025, sales of protein yogurts, kefir, fermented drinks, mango (+116% vs first half of 2024) and avocado (+45%) grow. Animal protein substitutes and ‘free from’ niche foods have become structural drivers of consumption. The future direction is clear: reduction of sugars and fats, consolidation of sugar-free and low-fat trends.
The slowdown of ultra-processed foods
Two Italians out of three declare to avoid consuming foods containing additives, preservatives and artificial flavors, in a word ultra-processed. The sale of this type of food indeed decreased by 3.3% in volume in 2024, with contractions inversely proportional to the number of additives. Only some niches, from ethnic specialties to sweet spreads, resist or even grow. And among the shelf foods of large-scale retail, one in four contains at least one additive food among the 20 most common.
The Coop Report 2025 highlights a paradox: almost half of the products presented as ‘beneficial’ contain at least one additive, and significant percentages emerge even among ‘free from’ and vegan products. A discrepancy that fuels distrust and strengthens the demand for transparency.
Italians interviewed in August 2025 have clearly expressed the direction of their . In the next 12-18 months, large segments of consumers will increase their spending:. In the next 12-18 months, large segments of consumers will thus increase their spending:
– healthy products, good for health (30% of respondents);
– foods without or with little sugar (24%);
– foods without or with low fat (23%):
– high protein content (13%);
– lactose-free and/or gluten-free (9%).
The surge in organic products
After a difficult three-year period, the organic sector restarts strongly. In the first half of 2025, the sales of organic foods in hypermarkets and supermarkets recorded a growth rate of +4.8%, higher than the total food sector.
Italians who regularly choose these foods now number 4.9 million. 8.4 million declare they intend to purchase them in the next 12-18 months. In the South (South and Sicily), the most dynamic trend is recorded, with a sales value growth (+13.8%) almost triple the national average.
Fresh and fruit & vegetables lead the advance of a 2.2 billion euro market, with an increase in packaged sales in the mass distribution of +11% and +6%, respectively. Meat, beverages and chilled products remain weaker. On the distribution front, supermarkets confirm their central role, followed by hypermarkets and discount stores.
No and low-alcohol
The consumption of alcoholic beverages is decreasing and consolidating , new habits, led by younger people. Traditional wine, beer, and spirits are slowing, while the no/low-alcohol segment is advancing decisively. The sector is still niche, but forecasts indicate double-digit growth for the period 2024-2029 in almost all major European markets.
Over the last three years, sales of no or low alcohol drinks have increased by 96.1% in the UK; followed by Italy (+14.8), Germany (+10.9) and France (+4.9).
Sales of non-alcoholic beers and aperitifs are growing in volume and value in supermarkets as well as out of home. According to a survey conducted by Circana, almost one in two Italians expects bars and restaurants to always offer non-alcoholic beer, and one in three demands the constant presence of non-alcoholic wine or sparkling wine.
From discount stores back to supermarkets
After low prices and aggressive promotions had made the discount channel the preferred choice for an Italy hard hit by inflation and economic uncertainty, in the first six months of 2025 values reverse. The supermarkets grow more than discounts: +4.2% in value and +1.5% in volume versus +3.3% in value and +1.3% in volume.
Make no mistake, high prices persist in the background and Italians – less loyal than before – always seek savings: 24.5% of total grocery sales today are made on promotion. However, the price alone is no longer enough.
People also go to supermarkets for the greater choice between branded products and private labels (expected to grow in the next 12 months, according to interviewed food & beverage managers), premium fresh and organic products, as well as for promotions.
Overseas consumers on a Made in Italy diet?
The introduction of 15% tariffs for the export of Italian agri-food products to the United States could translate into a hard blow for Italian producers, as well as for overseas consumers who will inevitably bear the price increases, severely testing the stated intent of half of those interviewed to continue buying them.
A significant share of Italian agri-food exports is still destined for the United States. Here are some examples of export share in the USA of Made in Italy food products, relative to the total export:
– mineral waters, 41%
– olive oil, 32%
– still and sparkling wines, liquors and sparkling wines, 25%
– cheeses, 19%
– pasta, 16%.
Paradoxically, concludes the Coop Report 2025, precisely as the Mediterranean diet is celebrated in the United States as a healthy model, political decisions could make it less accessible to those who desire it.
Marta Strinati
References
– Dario Dongo. Goodbye Italian fruit. The crisis, and the solution. Food Times. 17.4.24
– Istat. Consumer prices 2025 https://www.istat.it/comunicato-stampa/prezzi-al-consumo-agosto-2025/
– Coop Report 2025. Digital preview https://italiani.coop/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/rapporto-coop-2025_AntDig.pdf
Professional journalist since January 1995, she has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and magazines (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). Author of journalistic investigations on food, she published the book 'Reading labels to know what we eat'.
