Italian companies play an important role in food technology, providing truly excellent, innovative solutions, and making machinery for the production of those iconic food products for which Italy is famous throughout the world, such as pasta, pizza, artisanal gelato and espresso coffee, but also its refrigeration and meat processing equipment and other cooking and tableware items.

A snapshot of this world is provided by the latest figures from the Study Centre of ANIMA Assofoodtec – the Italian Association of Machinery and Equipment Manufacturers for Food Production, Processing and Preservation – a long-standing partner of the HostMilano trade fair, whose next edition will be held at Fieramilano Rho from 13 to 17 October 2023.

Figures for 2021 indicate a sector in marked recovery, and one that in many cases has overcom the deadlock experienced in 2020, the first year of the pandemic that hit the Ho.Re.Ca sector so hard.

Espresso Coffee Machines, for example, recorded sales of 500 million euros in 2021, of 375 million euros came from exports (+19%), with an overall increase of 17.6% on 2020 (when there was a drop of -14.1%), and exceeding 2019 sales by 5 million euros. And while employment remained stable, investments increased (+1.5%) to 17.2 million euros.

Refrigeration also did well, exceeding 2019 sales, with Commercial Refrigeration Equipment recording total sales of 1,080 million euros (up 20% on 2020), higher than the 1,015 million euros recorded in 2019. This positive performance was due largely to exports, which in 2021 (with 610 million euros) achieved a resounding growth of 31.2% on 2020, a result made possible also by the 2.8% increase in investments on 2020.

Similarly, Refrigeration Compressors, closed 2021 at 655 million euros (up 12.9% on 2020 and 15 million euros higher than 2019), while Industrial Refrigeration Systems recorded sales of 120 million euros (up 7.1% on 2020 and broadly in line with 2019, which closed at 121 million euros).

Meat-processing Machinery and System also recovered well from two years of stagnation with sales of 268 million euros, up 12.9% on 2020 and an improvement on the 261 million euros recorded in 2019. Of this total, 194 million euros were accounted for by exports (+11.5%).

Positive figures were also recorded in all other sectors, which came close to while not exactly matching 2019 levels. Machinery and Equipment for Animal Feed and Silos recorded sales of 215 million euros in 2021 (+13.8%) with an improved performance in exports (up 14.9% on 2020) at 201 million euros. Investments also increased (to 5.35 million euros, up 3.9% on 2020).

Machinery and Ovens for Bread, Biscuits, Pastry and Pizza closed 2021 at 700 million euros (+12%), of which 460 million came from exports (+10.7%), and with investments of 20.5 million euros.

A recovery was seen in Machinery and Equipment for Pasta and Extruded Foods, with sales of 265 million euros (+15.2%, while exports, worth 172 million euros, grew by just 14.7%).

Machinery and Equipment for the Confectionery Industry increased by 12.5% to reach 135 million euros, of which a good 122 million euros were generated by exports (up 13% on 2020).

Exports are important also for Machinery and Equipment for Processing Fruit and Vegetables, which recorded sales of 210 million euros in 2021 (+13.5%), 165 million of which came from foreign sales (+19.6%). Employment was stable also in this sector.

Slicers, Meat Mincers and Related Products closed 2021 at 225 million euros, (+8.2%), with 138 million euros attributable to exports (+6.2%).

Household articles, finally, recorded revenues of 810 million euros (+32.8%), which was an improvement on the 610 million euros of 2020, but did not reach the 902 million euros of sales recorded in 2019.