T. Ozbun
Research expert covering food retail and all food topics for Italy and Brazil
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As of 2020, approximately 18.2 thousand tons of Pecorino and Fiore Sardo were exported worldwide from Italy. Their popularity is also acknowledged among Italian consumers, with 44 percent indicating Parmigiano Reggiano as their favorite cheese in 2020. Grana Padano followed in the ranking with slightly less than 40 percent.As far as the import of cheese into Italy is concerned, Germany is an important trade partner of fresh cheese, while Belgium is the leading exporter of processed cheese to Italy. Additionally, most of the hard cheese imported by Italy comes from Eastern Europe, with Czechia outpacing Poland and Hungary in terms of volume.
Cheese consumption
The Italian population consumes nearly 1.3 billion tons of cheese every year, while the consumption per capita of cheese reaches to about 22 kilograms. In 2019, cheese and dairy products accounted for 61 percent of the domestic spending on dairy food category, while 13 percent of the overall spending was allocated to yogurt.
