Of the many food industry trends triggered by the pandemic, pasta has emerged as a winner for FMCG companies, particularly in Italy, the world’s top exporter.
Cheap, shelf-stable and universally popular, pasta was among the top consumer products that people stockpiled in the early months of the pandemic. It continues to fly off grocery store shelves. Although Italians eat more pasta than anyone else in the world, about 60% of the pasta produced in Italy is bound for export, mainly to other European countries and the U.S. In the first six months of 2020, the country’s pasta exports grew by 30% over the same period last year, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT).
The world’s biggest pasta-maker, Barilla, has struggled to keep up with demand for the FMCG staple. The multinational food company owns Swedish firm Wasabröd, the biggest producer of Scandinavian crispbread, as well as a variety of snack brands, but pasta is its number-one consumer product by far. During Italy’s strict lockdown in spring, Barilla’s headquarters in Parma, Italy was operating close to capacity, churning out 1,000 tonnes of pasta a day.
Some of Barilla’s factories have produced more pasta than ever this year, according to Bastian Diegel, Customer Service & Demand Planning Manager at Barilla Germany, though new safety measures have driven up the cost of production significantly.
Germany is one of Barilla’s most important markets, and meeting pandemic-fuelled demand for pasta and sauce – which spiked by 50% in the first month and an average of 10% in subsequent months – led to the launch of a dedicated railway transport system. Beginning in March, two trains a week departed from Parma to Barilla’s German warehouse in Ulm. Each train carries an average 600 tonnes of food, including 490 tonnes of pasta, The Economist reports. The trains started running three times a week in June, and could soon make four weekly trips as demand remains robust and grocery stores continue to sell high volumes.
Like other FMCG companies that have seen demand surge for specific foods and other consumer products during the pandemic, Barilla and other pasta-makers wonder if the craving will subside once it’s finally over. Luigi Cristiano Laurenza of the International Pasta Organisation is optimistic. Over the past two decades pasta consumption has increased worldwide every year, from 7 million tonnes in 1999 to 16 million tonnes in 2019. Laurenza points out that the food’s low cost makes it attractive to families suffering the negative economic impacts of the pandemic. Further, there is room for much more growth beyond Europe and North America, particularly in Africa and Asia.
