Whether it's round, in a pan, alla pala, Neapolitan, Roman, white or red, with traditional, vegan, or gluten-free dough, and you name it, pizza is always synonymous with celebration.
The Pizza is the providential last-minute food delivery when there's an echo in the refrigerator or friends drop in, and nothing is ready; it's the easiest choice when you decide to go out to eat and have to agree on too many palates and not just in Italy.
Unexpectedly, our most typical food is proselytizing more abroad than at home. Americans come out on top in the worldwide challenge for the supremacy of pizza consumption, with 13 kilograms per person yearly.
Market size
Allied Market Research estimated that the global frozen pizza market was worth $17,362.80 million in 2020 but will reach $39,373.20 million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 7.96 percent from 2022 to 2031. To get an idea of the size of the market, think that in the United States alone, the frozen pizza market is worth about $5.5 billion, 20 times that of Italy.
The reasons for this success are found in the changing lifestyle and food preferences of the new generations, who like to have a ready-made product at home that has a long shelf life and is cheap. Still, at the same time, healthy frozen pizzas are perceived as high-quality food products. In addition, the quality of raw materials used by major Italian producers has risen very high compared to past years. It is increasingly common to find Italian frozen pizzas made with PDO or PGI brand products.
Italian companies began approaching this market with substantial growth margins only a few years ago by recording exciting data. In 2021, compared to 2019, the export of Made in Italy frozen pizzas grew by +18.1% in value and +17.7% in volume. The top destination markets for frozen Italian pizza in 2020 were Germany (first position with a 19.3% share of the total value of firm exports), followed by the United States (14.1%). This was followed by France (13.1%), Switzerland, and the Netherlands (7.4% and 4.1%).
Fonte: IIAS (Istituto Italiano Alimenti Surgelati)
USA: the strategic market for Italian agrifood exports
Given the market's enormous potential, Italian companies can and must do more. Especially in the USA, where, thanks to the agreements reached by UIF-Italian Food Union, after ten years of negotiations, from 2021, Italian frozen pizza companies operating throughout the Peninsula-as long as they are authorized and included in a unique list-can export to the American market even pizzas containing pork or delicatessen products, while before, anything containing pork could not cross the Ocean, placing severe limitations on 'exports.
The agreement, therefore, not only represents an excellent opportunity for those who want to intercept the tastes of U.S. consumers, who are known to love "Pepperoni Pizza," which holds more than 50 percent of the industry and whose main ingredient is pepperoni, but also elevates the potential for the export of other frozen meat products, such as lasagna, tortellini, and regional ready meals.
The agreement, therefore, not only represents an excellent opportunity for those who want to intercept the tastes of U.S. consumers, who are known to love "Pepperoni Pizza," which holds more than 50 percent of the industry and whose main ingredient is pepperoni, but also elevates the potential for the export of other frozen meat products, such as lasagna, tortellini, and regional ready meals.
