Palazzo di Varignana – Bologna (Italy)  – 10th June 2019 the annual appointment dedicated to the international agri-food chain

The IV Agrifood Monitor Forum is dedicated to the Japanese market and to opportunities for agri-food businesses, also in light of the free trade agreement which entered into force on February 1 this year.

With over 57 billion euros, Japan is the fifth largest market in the world for the value of imported agri-food products, after the United States, China, Germany and the Netherlands. Over the past five years, that value has grown by nearly 9%.

Italy’s role as a supplier of agri-food products is still marginal: less than 900 million euros, 1.5% of the total, occupying 17th place in the ranking of the main exporters in this market, even if in the five-year period considered the agri-food imports from our country have grown by over 15%. The performance of Italian companies in the first quarter of this year was also good: + 7.3% compared to the same period of 2018, against an average of total agri-food imports in Japan of + 6.7%.

But the potential for our products in this market is even greater. Through the analysis of the competitive positioning of Made in Italy food products in Japan, the results of an original survey on the Japanese consumer regarding the awareness, perception and reputation of these products, the contribution of institutional representatives on the new free trade agreement , the testimonies of Italian companies that already export to this market and those of Japanese food & beverage importers, the Agrifood Monitor Forum intends to represent a strategic and operational information tool for the benefit of agri-food companies globally.