The Prospect of Italian French Fries Market (2023)

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The French Fries Market in Italy

Do you love French fries? Of course, most people all over the world love French fries. Italians are no exception. Especially nowadays, with the development of the automatic French fries production line, people can enjoy French fries freely; no worrying about you can’t buy them. In Italy, the French fries market has a bright prospect with its kinds of favorable conditions.

Raw Material Availability

As we all know that the main requirement for manufacturing potato French fries is potatoes. Around 20 years later, potatoes were brought back to Spain and also introduced to Italy. At this time, the potatoes were still quite small and bitter and didn’t grow well in either Spain or Italy. However, over time, larger and less bitter versions of the plant were cultivated and the plant gradually caught on elsewhere in Europe. In Italy, after tomatoes, potatoes comprise the most important crop. Potatoes are cultivated in all the regions even if there are some Italian regions where the cultivation is much more important. The annual production of common potatoes is around 1,500,000 tonnes, cultivated on about 6,000 hectares of land. 45% of the entire potato production comes from three regions, Campania (22%), Emilia Romagna (12%), and Abruzzo (11%). Other important regions for this cultivation are Lazio, Veneto, and Calabria.

The Consumption Market of French Fries in Italy

International Market

The total world trade of potato fries is estimated at 2.5 million MT for 2000/01 Netherlands. Canada and the USA are the major players contributing more than 90% of the trade.
During the past 10 years, the quantity and value of frozen fry exports have consistently increased. The major French fries and frozen food-importing countries are East Asian countries, where the number of quick-service restaurants has expanded significantly.

Domestic Market

The major end-users of French fries are:

1. Quick Service Restaurants

These are the main buyer of French fries. Major quantity is sold through the McDonald’s chain.

2. Restaurant and Eateries

Apart from quick-service restaurants, other restaurants and eateries also have French fries on the menu and are also served as an accompaniment to other snacks.

3. Flight Caterers/Luxury Trains

Caterers, both flight, and railways are another segment among the user of French fries.

4. Retail Sales

Frozen French fries are also sold in retail outlets, like frozen vegetables and meat products from refrigerated outlets. With changing retail formats, shopping malls and supermarkets becoming popular giving better visibility to such products than by increasing sales.

5. French Fry Pizza

Maybe using French fries on the top of the pizza is the original of the Italian. The usage of French fries to top pizza in Italy is one illustration of the extent to which French fries have permeated cuisines globally. Italian pizza is customarily baked yeast bread topped with cheese, tomato sauce, or tomatoes and herbs. Fancier versions commonly include a variety of fresh or canned toppings. It may be baked in a traditional wood-fired oven or a common kitchen oven powered by gas or electricity. A very popular pizza topping in Italy is French fries and is called French fry pizza, the locals love it very much.