+17%, the alert of the ministry – Corriere.it

Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, has entrusted Benedetto Mineo, Guarantor for price surveillance, with the task of convening the Rapid Alert Commission to analyze the dynamics of the price of pasta. In fact, in March recorded a 17.5% increase over last year, taking into account context where, on the one hand, the cost of raw materials was decreasing, on the other hand, the costs of energy and the difficulties of procurement and related to other aspects of production weighed. The first meeting of the commission, created with the transparency decree, convened on 11 May at 2.30 pm.

Pasta prices in the last year

According to a dossier produced by Assoutenti, the prices of pasta have grown unevenly in the various Italian cities and not because of the prices of wheat. For example, Ancona boasts the highest value in Italy with a kg that cost an average of 2.44 euros in March, followed by Modena at 2.41 euros per kg, Cagliari with 2.40 euros per kg, Bologna at 2 .39 euros per kg, Genoa at 2.38 euros per kg. Only in 12 provinces are the price lists of spaghetti, rigatoni, penne, etc. were less than 2 euros per kilo. The heaviest increases were recorded in the provinces of Tuscany: the record in Siena, where pasta went from costing 1.37 euros per kg last year to 2.17 euros in March (58.4% increase). Increases of more than 50% also in Florence (52.8%) and Pistoia (51.8%). The average price of pasta in Italy is currently around 2.13 euros per kg, with an average increase of +25.3% compared to 2022, when the price lists averaged 1.70 euros per kg. On the basis of these data, in April the consumers’ association marked the anomalies at Mimit and Mister Prices. Pasta is one of the goods most loved by Italians – explains the president of Assoutenti, Furio Truzzi -, with a consumption of about 23 kg per capita in a year, and it is clear that such high price lists affect consumers’ pockets. If last year the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine had caused a tsunami on the markets of raw materials such as grain and wheat, today the situation appears different, with prices which, according to Coldiretti, have dropped by 30% compared to the same period of 2022 Wheat prices are uniform throughout the country and are around 38 euro cents per kilo.

Protection of farmers and consumers

Durum wheat is paid in Italy at around 36 cents per kg, a value that does not cover production costs. Conversely, the price of pasta increased by twice as much as inflation. As Coldiretti explains, pasta obtained directly from the processing of durum wheat with the addition of water alone and there would be no justification for the differences recorded in the quotations, with the price gap widening and jeopardizing the budgets of consumers and farmers. The trade associations, therefore, reiterate the need to act clarity also on the basis of the new legislation on unfair practices to protect the 200,000 farms that grow wheat. The revenues, recalls Coldiretti, do not cover the costs incurred and put sowing at risk as well as the country’s food sovereignty. The agricultural areas cultivated with durum wheat, according to the first forecasts of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests, are down for an investment of 1.22 million hectares with a reduction of about 2% compared to the previous year Carlo Rienzi, president of Codacons, adds that it is necessary to verify what, specifically, causes such strong increases in price lists, and whether there are anomalies on the market aimed at keeping retail prices high.

Analyze price dynamics

We have always been on the side of consumers – commented Riccardo Felicetti, president of the pasta makers of the Unione Italiana Food – and we will continue to do so. We are in favor of actions aimed at analyzing price dynamics. Those of pasta, as is well known, depend on many factors. Prices of wheat fluctuate too much and it is not the pasta industry that determines the price of durum wheat, the global market does so with international mechanisms and quotations. Add to that the cost of transformation into semolina, the energy cost, packaging, logistics and the various stages of the supply chain. It should be remembered that the pasta on the shelf today was produced months ago with durum wheat purchased at the prices of the even earlier period and with the energy costs of the peak of the crisis. Having said that, checks are welcome: pasta makers are open to all discussions on the case.