APCOM

Milanese people feel less and less the need to spend time in the kitchen. This is the result of a survey conducted by Milano's Chamber of Commerce which has been carried out for the conference 'The food renaissance'. The enquiry points out the surge of parboiled and ready food to the detriment of traditional cuisine, praised by everybody but 'practised' by few. As a matter of fact gastronomy shops and rotisseries, together with frozen and canned products, have undergone a 54% growth in the number of businesses in comparison with 2004.

The companies in the sector spread out in the Milanese province are currently 263, 355 of the regional amount. However, the whole food production has been increasing in a significant way: the active companies in the city and in its province are 3.616 (+10.3%), an increase both on an Italian level (+6.1%) and on a regional level (Lombardia 8.7%). Besides, they are almost a third of the overall regional number (+31.4%).

Today among the strongest increases is beer production: in the last three years Milanese inhabitants have bought 50% more than in the past. The processing and conservation of meat and meat-based products and the ice cream industry are growing too (+28.2%). As for the commerce of groceries, specialised businesses and companies that mainly sell food are 6,027 on the whole, equal to 33.4% in Lombardia and 3.4% at the national level.

The 'Made in Milan' diet is appreciated abroad as well. The Milanese exchange of food products with the rest of the world has increased by 5.4%. In particular, export has improved: in the last twelve months, it has grown by 9.1% and is directed above all to Europe (87% of the food industry's exports) and to America (6%). Nearly half of the deliveries goes to France (17.2%), Switzerland (15.4%) and Germany (13.2%).