Each of the top 10 brands in Italy have seen positive growth since the onset of the pandemic, both in terms of the overall and food and grocery sales. Online provision, however, is a far less established phenomenon in Italy than a number of other European countries, and as such, only Esselunga, Eurospin and Carrefour have seen any growth in this area in the last 12 months. Being among the first operators to offer online food and grocery shopping, unsurprisingly the growth has been substantial for all three brands at 50% or greater.

Italy’s foodstore provision is dominated by domestic brands, which typically have a more intimate knowledge of their local market. As such, there have been a number of domestic brands with the confidence to grow their portfolios over the last 12 months, including Conad (40), Coop (74), Eurospin (60), and Sigma (18). In fact, the only brands to reduce the number of stores they operate were Carrefour (-18) and Spar (-8), both international foodstore operators with a focus beyond that of this particular market.

Lidl has once again seen an opportunity to expand its operations, adding 30 stores in 12 months. The growth of the discount format has been very strong in the last year and has benefited another international brand, Aldi, which entered Italy for the first time in 2018 and reached more than 100 stores in two years. Value operators have again recognised that when consumer confidence falls and savings increase, then it is the value end of the spectrum that benefits most.

_{Read the articles within Spotlight: European Food and Groceries Sector below.}