The frozen food sector in Italy confirms a positive growth trend in 2024, consolidating their increasingly central role in Italians' eating habits. According to the Annual Report of the Italian Frozen Food Institute (IIAS), consumption reached 1,030,323 tons, with an increase of +2.3% compared to the previous year. The annual per capita consumption has risen from 17.2 kg to 17.5 kg, surpassing for the second consecutive year the psychological threshold of one million tons, a historic milestone for theItalian market.
Growth driven by domestic consumption
The increase was driven mainly by channel retail (domestic consumption), which recorded a +3.1% in volume, reaching 652,643 tons. In contrast, the segment ‘Out of home‘ (catering, canteens, bars) stood at 377,680 tons, with modest growth of 0.1%, marking a slowdown after the strong expansion of the previous two years. The total turnover of the sector in Italy reached almost 5.7 billion euros, an increase of 1.8% compared to 2023.
The categories of the most consumed products remain:
– vegetables (over 300,000 tons, +1.9%)
– potatoes (about 100,000 tons)
– fish products (96,000 tons, with +7% for breaded/prepared fish)
– pizzas (70,000 tons, +3%)
– ready meals (66,000 tons).
Significant also the recovery of frozen meats (+4.1%) and the continuous growth of products gluten-free (9,000 tons), demonstrating the sector's ability to meet specific nutritional needs.
Practicality, quality and anti-waste function
As emphasized by the IIAS President, Giorgio Donegani, this growth is the result of several factors: the high quality of raw materials, food safety, ease of use and increasing attention to the fight against food waste. Precisely on this last point, IIAS commissioned an ad hoc study to the International Waste Watcher Observatory, chaired by Prof. Andrea Segrè.
The results are eloquent: in Italy, each person wastes on average 668 grams of food per week, but only 14.9 grams (the 2,2%) come from frozen foods. And while national food waste is increased by 17.9% in a year and a half, the percentage of frozen food waste has remained stable despite consumption growing by 10% between 2021 and 2024.
Donegani observes that frozen foods are ‘allies for effective management of food stocks‘ thanks to long shelf life, to portionability and to easy preparation, which allow a significant reduction of domestic waste and even more so in collective catering.
Value beyond the price
Another common misconception debunked by the report is the alleged high cost of frozen foods. IIAS highlighted how the overall cost of a food item must consider not only the purchase price, but also the energy, water, and time required to prepare it, as well as the waste generated. Comparative analyses on products such as green beans, cod fillets, or paella show that the frozen equivalent often has a lower overall cost compared to fresh, thanks especially to the lower incidence of waste.
Marta Strinati
Attachment. IIAS_REPORT_2024
Professional journalist since January 1995, she has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and magazines (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). Author of investigative reports on food, she has published the book 'Reading labels to know what we eat'.
