(Finance) – Home delivery of food and ready meals (food delivery) moves a market which is valid today 1.8 billion euros and this type of service now reaches 71% of the Italian population.
The photograph was taken by The European House-Ambrosetti which on the occasion of the 7th forum “The Roadmap of the future for Food&Beverage” of Bormio underlined the fundamental role of food delivery platforms which in the last year represented 97% of the total value of the dishes sold. Only 3% comes from the online channels of traditional restaurants. “In 2015 – declared Valerio De Molli, Managing Partner & CEO, The European House – Ambrosetti – sales through food delivery platforms were worth 70 million euros, over 360 million in 2018 and more than 700 in 2020. The pandemic has contributed to the exponential growth of this phenomenon (+20% in value between 2020 and 2021) which today in Italy is approaching a total of 2 billion euros and which also has further and ample possibilities for future development”.
The development of digital platforms has allowed the food e-commerce sector to grow exponentially between 2010 and today: on average by 39% per year. The study also highlighted how the total turnover at the end of 2022 stood at 4.7 billion euros thanks above all to food delivery which represents 44% of the value, followed by food spending (37%) and food and wine (19% ). “The growth potential of digital marketplaces – added De Molli – in the agri-food context, however, it is still very high, as the turnover of the food sector generated through e-commerce is worth 3% of the total in 2022″.
The survey also shows that choices and habits change also thanks to the technological tools used: today 8 out of 10 consumers are reached by social networks, 60% show a strong interest in cooking and 31% browse social networks with the intention of discovering new products to buy. Thanks to the technology and development of food delivery, today also in Italy, new catering concepts are accessible such as Dark Kitchens (kitchens specialized only in home delivery), or Ghost Kitchens (a laboratory that works for several brands dedicated to deliveries ), the Social Kitchens where you can organize events with the kitchen as the leitmotif or the Shared commercial Kitchens, spaces for shared commercial kitchens that thus optimize management costs.