The challenges of the vinegar market, from the climate crisis to the problem of imitations

The twenty-second edition of fooda reference event for the Italian agri-food sectorwhich this year is held in Parma from 7 to 10 Mayis an opportunity to take stock of the situation of one of the leading sectors of Made in Italy, that of Vinegar There are hot topics at stake, from the dossiers currently present on European tables to the analysis of the economic data resulting from the 2023 harvest (the worst for 60 years), from the prospects linked to the current geopolitical scenario to the launch of some new features and products that speak of transparency, innovation and sustainability in the name of a healthy and greener diet.

The first point concerns the value of Geographical Indications (GI), recognized by the final consumer both on the Italian and foreign markets, so much so as to record a price differential between DOC/DOCG wines and table wines both in large-scale distribution (+228%) and on the export front (+50%) . In this regard they caused a lot of discussion challenges launched by Slovenia and Cypruswho have notified the European Commission of the law allowing these countries to call “balsamic vinegar” a mixture of vinegar, grape must and sugar produced by local businesses. However, something has moved in this regard: with a reform the European Parliament has decided to give less space to imitations.

“This reform, whose rapporteur is Paolo De Castrofurther protects our local PDOs and PGIs, since it sets limits regarding the market for evocative and imitative products”, he states Giacomo Pontipresident of Federvini Vinegar Group, president of Italia del Gusto and vice-president of the Modena Balsamic Vinegar Consortium, as well as president of the Ponti group. “On European soil it is a big step forward: there is more clarity, respect for the companies that have a history behind them and that produce products with controlled raw materials, a traced supply chain and following very precise and strict rules, in order to give the consumer a whole series of securities. The principle is simple: I can make the same product in another country, but I have to call it differently, I cannot appropriate a name that has roots in a very specific territory, because right there, in that territory, that specific product was born , and nowhere else.”

It’s not just a question of identity. The phenomenon of evocative and imitative products it takes resources away from the Italian agro-industrial supply chain, as it cascades throughout the entire sector. “From the companies that produce vinegar to those that make barrels, bottles, caps, labels… Cases like that of Slovenia and Cyprus, which tried to bypass European law, represent dangerous precedents for the Ig system, as well as an institutional disgrace to which it is good to react. We turn to Minister Lollobrigida to ensure that they are definitively resolved.”

Moving on to the analysis of the economic situation, according to the survey by Circain 2023 the sales of vinegars exceeded 133 million euros, recording a significant recovery in value of +3.9% compared to the previous year. Classic wine vinegar represents 29.3%, balsamic 33.7% and apple vinegar 16.6%. Icings cover 9.6%. Last year, on the canned vegetable front, the value of 720 million euros was reached (+4.5% compared to 2022), with pickled vegetables worth 36.5% of the share, olives 36.6%, pickles 12.6%, the rice line 8.3% and the sweet and sour line 6.1%.

“The increase in value in the Italian market is mainly due to the inflation effect”, explains Ponti. “In 2023 some costs increased, not so much those of raw materials, but rather energy, transport, packaging, paper, plastic, etc. These costs have had a downward retracement in 2024, but precisely during this year we have witnessed a very complicated market regarding, however, raw material coststherefore wine vinegar and grape derivatives, due to the bad harvest of 2023”.

According to estimates, the worst in the last 60 years. “Just to give you an idea, a normal harvest produces around 52-53 million hectolitres. There is talk of a poor harvest already around 49 million hectoliters. Well, that of 2023 was 37 million hectoliters. This is certainly due to the climate problemwhich especially afflicted the productions in the south of Puglia and Sicily”. Excessive spring humidity, for example, led to the problem of downy mildew, a fungal agent that attacked the vines at the beginning of summer. Then, in August, the tropical and excessive heat in some areas burned entire crops. “In some areas the wine hasn’t been made at all, the grapes haven’t been harvested and the must hasn’t been made. Result: wine costs 50% more than in 2023 and musts 70%”.

It is also worrying geopolitical scenario current. “We are now accustomed to a present full of unexpected events. After the pandemic, the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine and the worsening of the situation in Middle Eastlogistical delays due to the situation in the canals Panama e Suez, we really don’t know what else to expect. The Italian business system, including that of the vinegar sector, being made up of family-run and very flexible companies, generally manages to react more quickly than its international competitors. But we are talking about geopolitical issues that cause great damage to the economy, not only as regards exports, but also for the internal market, since faced with an unstable and uncertain panorama the consumer tends, as they say, to pull the strings row in a boat”.

However, there is no lack of inventiveness. In fact, companies are expanding their offer with some new vinegar-based products. “The first concern products sold as condiments and which are having great success, such as the glaze based on balsamic vinegar of Modena. Then, as in the case of the Ponti Group, there are also vinegar-based products with injections of concentrated aromatic musts (muscat must, pomegranate sweet-agro, concentrated apple juice, etc.), which will tantalise the most curious palates”.

It should also be remembered that there are multiple ways to consume vinegar, not just as a condimentbut also in cooking or even in drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic long drinks. “It’s a whole new frontier to discover, given that vinegar has various organoleptic qualities and great aroma. We did some tests with some bartenders and some cocktails were very aromatic, one non-alcoholic cocktail in particular seemed alcoholic due to the presence of wine vinegar in it. Taste never sleeps, it is constantly evolving, we must follow it, this means thinking of softer, rounder and more welcoming products, less acidic”.

As regards the appearance of the sustainability, Ponti, for example, has lightened the 1L bottle of vinegar by approximately 15%, without affecting the quality of the product, always with 30% recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate). Added to this is a great deal of work regarding product traceability, to ensure maximum transparency towards the customer. “Traceability is a topic on which we are working a lot, that is sistema blockchain from the apple orchard to the finished product. This allows us to produce 100% apple vinegar of Italian origin, both in the conventional and organic versions. The consumer, thanks to the Qr code on the label, he can know everything about the product he is consuming: when the apples were picked, when they were processed, when the bottling took place. It is a huge job of data collection that is carried out through software and is possible thanks to the great collaboration of the suppliers. The same goes for rice vinegar. We went to recover the prized rice from the province of Vercelli, and through the QR code we can get a bit of history of the rice used”.

At Cibus, this year, there is another novelty: the two consortia, Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI and Traditional Balsamic Vinegar, present themselves together under the guise of “The lands of balsamic”. “It is an important step, which testifies to the excellent relations between the two consortia. They are two products that are not in competition, but rather one supports the other. Traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena is a very sophisticated product, while IGP is the most widespread in the world. Only 8% of these products are consumed internally, while 92% go abroad, therefore they represent a symbol of Made in Italy. The union of two consortia allows us to promote and invest more resources and ideas on the market.”