The Parmigiano Reggiano consortium reports good results in terms of sales and prices for 2022. Consumer sales have reached a new peak of €2.9bn compared to €2.7bn in 2021, up +6.9% (156,620 tons vs. 152,690 tons in 2021, +2.6%). A new high was also achieved in terms of sales volumes on the international markets, which increased by +3% (64,202 tons vs. 62,351) and in production value with €1.8bn vs. €1.71bn in 2021.
The export share increased by two percentage points to 47%. The fastest growing market is Spain (+11.3% with 1,602 tons compared to 1,439 tons in 2021), followed by the USA, the main export market for Parmigiano Reggiano (+8.7% with 13,981 compared to 12,867 tons) and France ( +7.2% with 12,944 versus 12,077 tons). Good results were also recorded in Japan with an increase of 38.8% (1,010 versus 728 tons), Australia with an increase of 22.7% (713 versus 581 tons) and Canada with a plus of 6.3% (3,556 versus 581 tons). versus 3,345 tons).
Italy accounted for 53% of sales. In terms of distribution channels, large retail chains again led the way (62.3%), followed by food manufacturers (17.5%), benefiting from the increasing demand for products containing Parmigiano Reggiano as an ingredient in food production. Direct sales by dairies also increased significantly (+5.3%). The sales channel hotel/restaurant/catering is again in last place with a share of 9.2% and thus offers enormous development potential. The remaining 11% was spread across other sales channels.
The market price of Parmigiano Reggiano reached an annual average of €10.65 per kilo in 2022 (Parmigiano Reggiano aged for 12 months from the producer dairy), increasing compared to 2021 (when the price per kilo was €10.34). Production has slightly decreased compared to the record year 2021, when the highest number of loaves ever produced could be made: 4.002m loaves versus 4.091m (-2.2%). Of the provinces in the production area, the largest producer was Parma (1,357,224 wheels versus 1,419,179, -4.37%), followed by Reggio Emilia (1,245,159 wheels versus 1,302,555, -4.41%), Modena ( 849,145 wheels vs. 824,551, +2.98), Mantua (455,439 wheels vs. 442,659, +2.89) and Bologna (95,303 wheels vs. 102,200, -6.75%).
With a total investment of €18.6m for market development in 2023, Parmigiano Reggiano is still on the way to becoming a true global brand that can successfully assert itself even in the face of the challenges of large markets with many imitation products and the resulting consumer confusion. Thus, the consortium is working to strengthen the distinctiveness of the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) by informing consumers about the specific characteristics of the cheese: the type of aging, origin, production process and taste are important characteristics that make Parmigiano Reggiano from differentiate from the competition.
