Ho.Re.Ca. supply chain growing and high added value
Roma. In 2024, the Ho.Re.Ca. supply chain recorded 107,1 billion in turnover (+23% compared to 2019) and 53,8 billion in added value, employing 1,5 million workers in 382 thousand companies and at the same time making investments for 2,7 billion euros.
Contents
This is what emerges from the 2025 Strategic Report 'Feeding the Country, Connecting People. Horeca as an Ecosystem', presented to the Chamber of Deputies by Italgrob - Italian Federation of Horeca Distributors and Afdb - Association for the Training and Development of Horeca Distribution, and edited by The European House - Ambrosetti (Teha Group).
The research aimed to enhance the ecosystem that supports out-of-home food consumption in Italy and understand the evolution of the reference scenario for the Ho.Re.Ca. sector.
As the study shows, Ho.Re.Ca. Distribution generated 2024 billion euros in turnover and 15,3 billion euros in Added Value in 2,7, employing 57 thousand direct and indirect workers, a category that includes seasonal workers, VAT agents and logistics services. The universe of Ho.Re.Ca. Distribution.
It has approximately 3.400 active companies and has made investments of 107 million euros. In 2024, beverage-only distributors will account for approximately a quarter of the total turnover recorded by Ho.Re.Ca. Distribution (26,8%), while the main share remains that managed by specialized food wholesalers (47,4%).
The importance of out-of-home consumption
Food consumption, both at home and out of home, has been stagnant for more than a decade. However, consumption is a key variable for the country system: relaunching out-of-home consumption is synonymous with growth and social development. Food and non-food consumption represents almost 60% of the Italian GDP in 2024. Spending on food consumption also shows strong heterogeneity compared to the Italian regions: in Southern Italy, 'out of home' food spending is worth about 60% compared to Northern Italy.
The extended agri-food supply chain, within which Ho.Re.Ca. plays a key role in supporting food consumption outside the home, bringing agri-food products to the table of Italians, is a strategic asset for the competitiveness of the country, among the most representative of Made in Italy and growing in recent years despite the macroeconomic context: without it, 20% of the GDP could not be Beverage and 77 billion of the agricultural sector.
According to Italgrob associates, interviewed in the research to monitor and analyze the sentiment of Ho.Re.Ca. Distribution operators. On the scenario of out-of-home consumption in Italy and on the evolutions for the sector, the reduction in purchasing power (92%) will be the most challenging factor for companies in the sector in the near future.
To gain a significant competitive advantage in the long term, companies operating in the extended Ho.Re.Ca. supply chain will have to invest in the immediate future, taking into account aspects such as the demographic winter (single people over 65 dedicate just 2,4% of their average monthly expenditure to Ho.Re.Ca., compared to 8,3% of young people between 18 and 34); the polarization of consumption; sustainability; Artificial Intelligence.
Teha has identified some guidelines for institutions and political decision-makers, summarised in the 'Agenda for Ho.Re.Ca. Distribution', based on three main objectives: to promote the sustainable transition of the sector by strengthening its competitiveness, for example by introducing a controlled return system for plastic packaging; and finally, to enhance the digitalisation of the sector by intervening on training and skills.
For Francesco Battistoni, Secretary of the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies, 'the phrase contained in the Italgrob Report, 'Feeding the Country, Connecting People' is evocative. It perfectly summarizes the solidity of the Italian system and its strategic sectors which, at a time when major international crises are creating profound uncertainties, are managing to keep their value chains intact and strong.
A solidity that comes from companies, from their ability to innovate and keep up with the challenges related to competitiveness. In this panorama, out-of-home consumption, of which the Horeca sector is a leader, certainly has the ability to generate that incentive value that brings the products of the national agri-food chain to the tables of Italians, enhancing their elements of quality, peculiarity and distinctive values.
Thanks to the Horeca sector, Italy can count on a reference supply chain that contributes to promoting our Made in Italy and Italianness in the world.
Alessandro Morelli, Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council with responsibility for coordinating economic policy and public investment planning, observed: 'The agri-food supply chain is fundamental, not only for the extraordinary biodiversity of our country and for the value it represents for our economy.
Each service that this sector provides helps to counteract the depopulation of some areas and promote a presence on the territory to guarantee safety. This is an essential work of valorization of the social ecosystem. In fact, it is necessary to look holistically at the contribution that each supply chain can offer.
The Government is working on investments to relaunch infrastructure, unblock construction sites, promote mobility in cities and provinces and ensure the internationalization of our businesses. In this sense, we intend to continue this dialogue to discuss together the strategies aimed at making the ongoing transition processes sustainable.
For Giorgio Salvitti, Finance Commission of the Senate of the Republic and delegate of the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests Francesco Lollobrigida, 'the Government is particularly attentive to this sector, which has a significant impact on our country's GDP.
It is no coincidence that we have invested significant resources in the Financial Law. Furthermore, we have created a special list of those who operate in this sector, with a view to defining together the guidelines of a sector that encompasses several branches of the State: not only agri-food, but also tourism and logistics.
It is therefore necessary to guarantee economic support to the entire supply chain given the current challenges and the new global reorganization. We share the same goals, that is, to make Italy grow and focus on the quality of our products.
Gianluca Cantalamessa, member of the Senate Industry, Trade, Tourism, Agriculture and Agri-food Production Commission, said: 'In Italy, for years there has been a lack of a real industrial policy, because the idea has spread that it is the State that should generate wealth due to a deep-rooted prejudice against businesses.
On the contrary, we believe that the State must support entrepreneurial initiative. In this sense, we are trying to adopt measures that look to the medium and long term. Italy must start thinking about 2070 and 2080. 'Feeding the country' means much more than simply feeding it: it means enhancing the entire agri-food chain, creating places of sociality, presiding over the territory, strengthening national identity. It is, ultimately, a real mission. When we talk about the Ho.Re.Ca. sector, we are not just referring to an economic sector, but to a social sphere that is fundamental for the well-being and cohesion of the country.'
According to Antonio Portaccio, president of Italgrob, 'the data emerging from the 2025 Strategic Report confirm the importance of the entire Ho.Re.Ca. supply chain as an economic and social engine for our country. Ho.Re.Ca. Distribution represents a pillar on which the out-of-home consumption system is based. The investments made in 2024 demonstrate the sector's commitment to innovation, sustainability and modernization of the service.
To relaunch growth and promote businesses, clear rules, support measures, tax incentives and a regulatory framework that accompanies the digital and environmental transition are needed. The sector is ready to do its part: now we need a shared agenda to enhance an ecosystem that contributes every day to the competitiveness of Made in Italy and to social well-being.
According to Febo Leondini, president of Afdb: 'The Strategic Report 2025 has three great merits: the first is that it constitutes for the first time a uniform knowledge base of the entire world of out-of-home consumption; the second concerns the fact that for the first time the theme of Shared Value is addressed, therefore the shared value of the entire out-of-home ecosystem; the third is that by putting together this report with what Teha has been doing for years, we have a complete cross-section of Italian food consumption'.
Dino Di Marino, general manager of Italgrob, stated: 'The Report is a realistic snapshot of the Ho.Re.Ca. supply chain's ability to contribute to the growth and development of the Country System.
Out-of-home consumption is a consolidated reality, a powerful glue that intersects the needs of people, entrepreneurial activities, agri-food production in an innovative and sustainable ecosystem. Italgrob has always been attentive to these dynamics, in the awareness that it is necessary to commit itself 360 degrees to concretely support the Ho.Re.Ca. distribution sector, also through constant awareness-raising towards the institutions.
Benedetta Brioschi, partner and head of the Food&Retail and Sustainability Scenario, The European House – Ambrosetti, underlined: 'Through the activation of supply chains and subcontracting, the extended Ho.Re.Ca. supply chain supports the generation of 125,2 billion euros of added value in Italy, equal to 5,7% of the Italian GDP in 2024. In this context, Ho.Re.Ca. Distribution plays a key strategic role as a link between the food industry and the Ho.Re.Ca. channel.
A modern, sustainable and innovative Horeca Distribution supports not only the consumption of quality products, but also the entire extended agri-food chain, among the pillars of Made in Italy. Investing in Ho.Re.Ca. means responding to consumer demands: in 2023, the incidence of the Horeca channel on average family spending on consumption reached the highest incidence in the last 10 years, settling at 5,7% of total consumption and exceeding the 2019 pre-Covid figure.
Naples - Lawyer Vittorio Torino, a leading figure in the… Read more
Matteo Politano and his new wife Alessandra decided to transform the most beautiful day… Read more
Moments of fear in the late afternoon yesterday off the port of Salerno, where… Read more
Sala Consilina – The Carabinieri of the Sala Consilina Company have arrested a 39-year-old… Read more
Fermo – Frauds against the elderly continue in the Fermo area. The Carabinieri have reported… Read more
Torre del Greco – The State Police arrested a 28-year-old today in Torre del… Read more