It is impressive to consider the whole patrimony of Made in Italy products and trying to make a classification can sometimes be incomplete. So let’s try with empirical data and let’s see which are the 4 Italian typical products most sold abroad, according to the Census carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture.
1.
At the first place among the most sold Italian products in the world we find, quite surprisingly, chocolate, tea, coffee, spices and ready meals for a total of € 6.7 billion.
We do not have the raw materials, but we still manage, thanks to a long artisanal tradition, of making products of the highest quality. As in the case of Amedei, whose dark chocolate bar is now highly appreciated in many foreign markets.
2.
With a turnover of 6 billion euros, wine has always represented “an ace in the hold” for Italian enogastronomy.
Reds, whites, rosés and sparkling wines are produced from the North to the South of the peninsula, with world-class excellence wines of great demand. As it is the case of Amarone in the last years is a wine which has become more and more famous, thanks to its fruity aroma and its incisive taste because of its high tannin content, as the one produced by the Farina winery.
3.
Pasta is the most iconic food of the Italian tradition, but together with bread and flour it only ranks third in terms of turnover.
Many pasta factories in Italy boast a very long history, such as those in Gragnano, which used to expose the pasta to the windows of the houses in order to allow natural drying. Pastificio dei Campi still adopts many of the ancient techniques for making pasta and their Paccheri from Gragnano are recognised as a PGI product.
4.
We find in fourth place fruit and vegetables, thanks to the Mediterranean climate which favorably influences these cultivations.
In the past many families had their own vegetable garden to which they devoted great effort in order to be able to sell their fruits and vegetables in the fruit and vegetable markets of the various cities. This tradition is carried on by the farm La Magia, which on the coast of the Tuscan Maremma prepares an excellent vegetable garden whose healthiness is enhanced by the proximity of the sea.
Did you imagine that these were the four best-selling categories of Italian food and wine products abroad?