Cibus
The “American Dream” of Made in Italy food companies: a 1.5 trillion dollar market
Press release – Cibus Day-3
Cibus 2024
The “American Dream” of Made in Italy food companies:
a 1.5 trillion dollar market
The retail and alcoholic beverages market is worth 10 times that of Europe, offering new opportunities for growth and internationalization for Italian companies.
Important brands like Auricchio, Levoni, and Rigamonti are already successfully present overseas. In their opinion, courage, skills, and the creation of distinctive and excellent products are necessary assets.
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Parma, May 9th – Authentic Italian Food&Beverage meets the US market. A strong relationship destined to mark a new era for the Italian agrifood industry. The American market for Italian companies, combining retail and alcoholic beverages, is worth a total of $1.5 trillion; it means, ten times that of Europe, which doesn't even reach $150 billion. It's an enormous market, albeit complex and difficult to penetrate. But Italian companies are absolutely able to follow their "American Dream".
This peculiar topic was discussed at Cibus, during the seminar titled “USA4Cibus: opportunities for Italian companies to invest in the United States in the era of the Inflation Reduction Act”. The initiative was organized in collaboration with the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy and moderated by Class CNBC anchorwoman Mariavittoria Zaglio, featuring interventions from major brands such as Auricchio, Levoni, Rigamonti, and the participation of the Associazione Centromarca.
"To continue growing," Antonio Cellie, CEO of Fiere di Parma, said, "we must find more relevant internationalization models. In the US, opportunities are offered not only by major players in retail but also at the local level: in fact, there's an interesting share of operators (14%), who are worth more than the entire Italian market. Furthermore, it is remarkable that some trends (that have already plateaued in Europe) are keep on growing in the US markets, like organic, driven by Generation Y and Z who are increasingly demand consuming less but better quality."
Several significant Italian brands have begun to successfully tackle this market. For instance, Gennaro Auricchio SpA founded Auricchio Cheese Corporation back in 1977, a branch later sold between 1992-93, but returned to focus on the US market in 2011, cutting and packaging cheeses in New Jersey. "We missed America" President Antonio Auricchio said. "We are present in 60 countries, but the US is our beating heart, a very important nation where business continues to grow. Today, our people work in New Jersey, conducting rigorous selection in order to comply with the mission of producing excellent products. To be excellent, we need to create a distinctive product appreciated worldwide. It takes courage, but we have shown that Italians have the ability to enter the American market."
Levoni has been in the American market since the 1990s through a handful of importers across the United States. A substantial number of distributors were requesting Levoni products, but they didn't want to purchase them from the importers, since they consider them as competitors. "After many requests, we found the solution: opening Levoni America Corp.," explained President Nicola Levoni.
Since 2014, thanks to this commercial headquarters in the United States and a team of highly-skilled and enthusiast Italian professionals, we have got a new dimension, offering a service improvement and more than tenfolding the results of previous years.
In 2024, after a year of planning and construction, Levoni's American production headquarters will come to light, not as a relocation, but as an addition to service. We will slice our 100% Italian products to also serve the American retail channel.
"For us, America is a completely new channel, but opening a headquarters there has already marked a difference. We believe that this additional important step can bring us even greater satisfaction."
Rigamonti also approached the American market with a dual strategy. "We mainly produce bresaola," Claudio Palladi, CEO of Rigamonti, explained, "which isn't a proper marketable product in the United States. That is the reason why we first acquired Italian brands to export products and then started the activity to build a factory." The result is a stable facility with Italian technology in Missouri. "It is an ongoing bet, but initial data are absolutely encouraging"
As mr Palladi recalled, Rigamonti was facilitated in opening the plant thanks to close collaboration with the state of Missouri. Moreover, both locally and federally, the United States offers a series of incentives and business opportunities, as emphasized by Caroline Chung, Principal Commercial Officer at the U.S. Consulate General Milan. "No other food," she asserted, "influences American and global culture like Italian one. Italians teach to treat food with respect, to appreciate all preparation processes, to choose ingredients carefully. The Italian food industry has global success thanks to product quality and the reputation it rightly earned."
Business opportunities are tied to the Inflation Reduction Act initiated by President Joe Biden. Companies, including foreign ones, have substantial tax credits available to localize projects related to clean energy, which also interests the agri-food world, representing 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
Additionally, in June, the Selected USA program will be available to facilitate investments that create jobs of any type and size, for all companies that want to invest or expand their investments.
America is definitely nearer for Italian companies, but as Vittorio Cino, General Director of Centromarca, emphasized, "we need to raise the average level of professionalism in marketing and communication internationally, not relying solely on the skill of the individual entrepreneur. There are growth opportunities, but we need skills, training, and punctual data analysis. I am optimistic since if we can complete those missing pieces, we can become the leading food exporting country to the USA."
Uploaded on 09/05/2024
Cibus 2024 | Fiere di Parma 7 - 10 maggio 
