Federvini’s complaint to EU: “Delicate moment, don’t hinder companies”

Rome – International tensions, tariffs, and not least European agriculture and climate policies are also weighing on a growing sector. “The challenges are many,” confesses Micaela Pallini, president of Federvini, on the sidelines of the presentation in Rome of the supply-chain study for the wines, spirits, and vinegar sectors, carried out by Nomisma. It is Europe that, she denounces, is “provoking” farmers’ protests. “Because the changes wanted by the EU on some regulations are perhaps senseless, pervaded by a ‘Taliban’ environmentalism, which instead of helping farms seem to hinder them,” she thunders. Added to this is a complex geopolitical situation, “the latest wars also bring tensions on freight and transportation rates, which have been rising again; we have no shortage of stimulating challenges,” says the president. Despite this, however, Federvini’s three supply chains account for 19 per cent of food and beverage exports. A vital sector for Made in Italy, especially abroad. In Europe, with action “on several fronts,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani guarantees the country’s commitment to protecting the wine sector in the various ongoing negotiations, including one on alcoholic beverage labelling. “On this issue, the government is engaged in intense action to defend the interests of the sector— always with a view to responsible consumption—with the awareness that the promotion of our excellence also translates into the spread of a model of life, centred on product quality, craftsmanship of processes, culture, and sociality,” he says.

All eyes are now on the post-election: “We will risk everything if we don’t have a commissioner who can balance the environmentalist urges,” echoes MEP Paolo De Castro. “This is also the reason for the protests in Europe, there is an underlying malaise, the feeling European farmers have of a commission that is the enemy of agriculture,” he charges. According to Nomisma’s study, Federvini’s supply chains represent more than 2,300 companies (38,000 considering also agricultural processing companies) and are worth 21.5 billion euros in direct turnover with 10 billion euros in exports. With 81,000 workers directly employed by enterprises in the three sectors, thanks to a multiplier effect of 5.8, more than 460,000 workers are activated in the entire national economic system, corresponding to nearly 2 per cent of the total number of workers in Italy. “This study highlights the extraordinary dimension achieved, on the whole, by the supply chains we represent, which assume strategic importance for the Italian economic system with an added value of more than 20 billion euros per year and an export that moves 10 billion euros,” Pallini claims. Industries that, he says, deserve the “highest consideration and the most attentive institutional support.” Businesses that, however, he reiterates, “are very exposed to uncertainties of a geopolitical, regulatory, commercial and inflationary nature. The defence of this Made in Italy heritage, with its history, culture, and reputation, is as much the responsibility of entrepreneurs, with their representative organizations, as of institutions,” he insists. The moment is “particularly challenging,” confirms the director general, Marco Montanaro: “However, this does not prevent exports from being an important part of the supply chain; they represent an aggregate figure of about 10 billion euros in value, there are still ample opportunities in other markets to be able to consolidate the positions of the supply chains.”

Every euro of added value directly generated by companies in the wines, spirits, and vinegar sectors creates 4.2 euros in the entire national economy thanks to indirect and induced impacts on other made-in-Italy supply chains, explains Emanuele Di Faustino, head of Retail Industry and Services at Nomisma, presenting a study conducted for Federvini. “However, the continuity of the strategic contribution that the ‘Federvini supply chains’ provide to the country system is being ‘put to the test’ by the challenges related to the uncertain international macroeconomic and geopolitical scenario.” Di Faustino also talks about the recent Red Sea crisis or the antidumping investigation on European distillates by China, aspects that, he warns, “could also have an important impact on Italian exports, the flagship of Federvini supply chains.”

“We must defend ourselves,” is the position of the Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, who argues the need to “continue to support the quality that has always characterized our productions appreciated not only in terms of exports but also as a lever to attract territories increasingly dedicated to wine and food tourism.”