Consumption of fresh produce in Italy has plummeted to a record low.
According to the yearly report compiled by Italian fresh produce market analyst CSO, Italians bought an average of 331kg per household in 2012, down from 417kg a decade earlier.
In 2012, fresh produce consumption by Italian households amounted to 8 million tonnes, two per cent down on 2011. Fruit showed the steepest decline by 2.3 per cent to 4.3mt while vegetables fell by 1.6 per cent to 3.7mt.
Comparing 2012’s purchases with those of 10 years before indicates that apples, pears and oranges are all fading in popularity with consumption down by 15 per cent for each line. Table grapes too are on the wane with consumption falling by 18 per cent while kiwifruit climbed by 36 per cent, melons by 19 per cent and plums by 17 per cent. Exotics including pineapples have more than doubled consumption volume in the decade.
