On World Pasta Day, October 25, Coop Alleanza 3.0 reports on the main trends relating to this food, one of the symbols of Italianness around the world
Italy boasts an extraordinary variety of pasta, both in terms of shape and ingredients used. Institutional sources and industry research agree that there are hundreds of different types of Italian pasta. But when and how did this transition from regional food to global icon take place? Alberto Grandi, associate professor of food history at the University of Parma, explains. «The first real leap forward came with mass emigration between the late 19th and early 20th centuries: millions of Italians left for the Americas, including many Neapolitans who took their memories of pasta dishes with them. The real leap in status, however, came after the war, with the economic boom and the birth of the concept of “Made in Italy”: fashion, design, cinema, and... cuisine. Pasta, once a popular product, became an emblem of the Italian lifestyle, thanks in part to Fellini, advertising, and the large companies that began to export it everywhere».
On the occasion of World Pasta Day, scheduled for October 25, Coop Alleanza 3.0 reports on the purchasing trends of its members and consumers with regard to this food. The photo was taken from the observatory of its 350 stores located from Trieste to Lecce and EasyCoop, the online shopping service offered by the Cooperative.
With 38.3 million pieces sold, dry semolina pasta is the favorite among Italians. Within this vast group, consumers prefer dry pasta shapes known as “short”, i.e. less than 6-7 cm in length (including, for example, penne, fusilli, and rigatoni), of which 22.8 million packs were sold. The queen of short pasta for Coop Alleanza 3.0 consumers is penne, which, between smooth and ridged varieties, ended up in shopping carts with over 5.6 million pieces sold (32% Coop brand). In the smooth vs. ridged penne derby, the latter wins with 76% of the vote. In second place are fusilli with 3.1 million packages sold, while the bronze medal goes to rigatoni with 1.4 million pieces sold.
With 11 million units sold, fresh pasta, almost half of which is Coop brand, i.e., pasta that is not dried and consumed quickly, is very common on Italian tables. The favorite among fresh pasta is stuffed pasta, with 5.4 million packages purchased, with tortellini in first place with 1.8 million units ending up in shopping carts. Ravioli is in second place with one million packages, while cappelletti is in third place with over 350,000 packages.
The favorite filling for fresh pasta? Meat, chosen 1.4 million times, followed closely by prosciutto, which ended up on plates with 1.3 million packages.
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