Biasoni (Aigrim): "Outlook at +3.8% for the next five years is a positive sign".

The webinar entitled "Catering, People and Consumption" was held today, the event organized by Aigrim, the association born within Fipe-Confcommercio, during which the updated data from the Observatory on Catering in Centers were presented Commerciali, created by Deloitte, born from an initiative with Aigrim and Cncc. The Observatory aims to analyze, on an ongoing basis, a series of indicators on the impact and performance of catering in shopping centers and to provide useful elements for defining strategic directives and actions to improve the performance of the sector.

Within the complex macroeconomic context, in which, however, there are good signs of recovery in demand and in the purchasing power of families, the global catering market grew in 2023, reaching 2,795 billion euros. The prospects for the next few years are positive, with an annual CAGR 23-28 growth rate of +3.8% and a value of around 3,367 billion euros in 2028. In this scenario, Italy, for 2023 , reaches a value of 82 billion euros, confirming its 3% weight on the global catering market, and forecasts growth of +2.1% CAGR 23-28, driven mainly by Quick Service Restaurants, for which a CAGR 23-28 of +2.5%, versus +1.9% CAGR 23-28 for Full Service Restaurants.

The catering sector, therefore, confirms its relevance for the country and this is all the more evident if we analyze - as highlighted by Deloitte - the data relating to shopping centres: from 2022 to 2023, the sector gained one percentage point on turnover of shopping centres, reaching a turnover of 5.6 billion euros. The growth is also driven by footfall in shopping centres, which corresponds to +7% in 2023 compared to 2022. Specifically, from 2022 to 2023, the incidence of catering revenues on the total turnover of shopping centers went from 9.7 % at 11.2% at a national level, on the panel analyzed by the Observatory. However, the number of food consumption per entry into shopping centers remained stable compared to 2022.

Analyzing the sentiment of the shopping centers interviewed, catering is expected to grow also in 2024, particularly driven by the large centers of the North West and the South and Islands. While, from the point of view of restaurant operators, the growth of Foodservice in Shopping Centers will be constant but limited, driven in particular by Fast Food, which is expected to have double-digit increases between 2023 and 2024.

“Today's appointment and the data from the Observatory created by Deloitte and born from the initiative of Aigrim and Cncc are further confirmation of how strategically important our sector is for our country. Although the geopolitical scenario seems to bring about a climate of mistrust in consumption, the outlook for the next five years of +3.8% is a positive sign", commented Cristian Biasoni , president of Aigrim. “And the issue of protecting and safeguarding the well-being of our people becomes essential. We cannot talk about growth if it is not associated with a new working paradigm also applied to those who work in the sector. We can do a lot in terms of welfare, training and benefits and the time has come to work together on a model that is attractive to new people and attentive to those who already work there".

“The results of the Observatory entrusted by Aigrim and Cncc to Deloitte presented today confirm the importance of catering in the shopping center business: the food & beverage offer has, in fact, become a driving anchor for the positive trend that we have been experiencing for over a year in our industry, thanks to an offer that has been able to evolve and intercept the requests of increasingly demanding customers, also from the point of view of the quality and convenience of the service. The objective of this Observatory is also to predict future trends, which can be identified from a timely analysis of the sector, so as to anticipate any changes and inevitable adjustments after a period of great development like the current one", declared Roberto Zoia , president of the Cncc .

“For the next few years, a moderate growth in the turnover of shopping centers is expected, but catering is confirmed to be the main driver of development among the various product categories, with fast-food showing an expected double growth higher figure than other Food Service formats,” says Tommaso Nastasi , Senior Partner of Deloitte Italia.