Following years of continued falls in consumption, sales of fresh fruit and vegetables appear to be making something of a comeback in Italy, according to new figures from Ismea-AC Nielsen published by agricultural organisation CIA.

The newly released data suggests Italians consumed around 1.5 per cent more fruit and vegetables in terms of volume in 2008 and bought 2.8 per cent more in value terms during the same period.

The figures represent something of a surprise for the Italian fresh produce trade, which has witnessed consecutive decreases in consumption over the past decade amounting to a total fall of more than 20 per cent.

In terms of fresh fruit alone, consumption rose by 1.7 per cent last year, revealed the CIA, while fresh vegetable volumes increased by 1.3 per cent.

In contrast, fresh fruit consumption fell by 2.5 per cent during 2007, while the equivalent figure for fresh vegetables was a fall of 4.2 per cent.

However, officials at the CIA have been quick to point out that last year's upward trend does not represent the end of the recent consumption crisis.

'This is certainly a positive result, but it allows us to recover only a minimal part of the ground lost over the past few years,' said a spokesperson.

Topics