December 16th, 2015 – Italian food will be on the tables of the world for these festivities, thanks to wine, sparkling wines, brandy and liqueurs, panettone, cheeses, meats and pasta exports that for the Christmas season reached more than €3 billion, for an increase of 8%. The Coldiretti analysis on Christmas and Italian Food was presented at the National Assembly in Rome, presenting the projections for the month of December. The increase – according to Coldiretti – is due to the value of Christmas products exports, from sparkling wine (+ 19%) to panettone (+ 9%), as well as table wines (+ 8%), pasta (+7%) and cheeses (+ 4%). The Coldiretti calculations, on Istat data, is available for the first nine months of 2015. The record obtained – explains Coldiretti – is all the more valid given the negative effects of the Russian embargo, which began on August 6 2014 a total ban on the entry of a list of food products (including fruit and vegetables, cheese, meat and sausages). Leading the foreign charts is Italian sparkling wine, counting the record of toasts with an Italian flavor, with a demand that has grown in value by 50% in Britain and 32% in the United States, classified respectively as first and second outlet markets for Italian bubbles, which are also strong in Germany, in third place. Requests were up 19% even in France, who have always been rather traditional in their food and wine choices. The most popular Italian sparkling wines abroad are: Prosecco, Asti, Trento DOC and Franciacorta, which are now direct competitors of French Champagne. This year – announced Coldiretti – more bottles of Italian sparkling wine have been uncork abroad than French champagne. These results push forward the entire wine sector, which registered an overall increase of 8% in export value. (Red)
