Bread Consumption hits record low in Italy

Veronese

Veronese

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Sep 10, 2007
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Bread Consumption hits record low in Italy

Once a staple on Italian tables, bread is now disappearing due to changing life styles and rising prices, the Coldiretti farmers union said on Monday.

Bread consumption in the first seven months of the year fell 5.6% from the same period in 2006 and bread sales have tumbled by one third since 2000, Coldiretti said.

Annual bread consumption in the home is now at an historic low and has for the first time fallen below one million tonnes,â€Â to 989,000 tonnes.

According to Coldiretti, the decline in bread consumption is certainly linked to changing life styles but it has also coincided with a steady rise in retail prices, which have soared 419% in the past 20 yearsÂ.

The farmers union also pointed that the amount a farmer is paid for his wheat accounts for less than 10% of the price of the final baked product.

The price of bread differs from city to city, costing as much as 3.35 euros a kilo in Milan and as little as 2.08 euros in Rome.
 
Hi vironese

As I've been living in Egypt, The bread is awful here, they put sugar in it and it all tastes sweet which is horrible if you want a chicken or cheese sandwhich, and being an ex english baker by trade, I can't wait to move to Italy, and one of the reasons is the food, and bread!
So if bread sales are still at an all time low, it's ok, when I arrive, sales will soar, I can't wait to stuff my face with decent bread and cheese, salami and olives on the side...
Aaah.........
 
I love bread with my pasta. I will never stop eating bread. I love breadsticks also, with my salads, and I love bruschetta. It is so amazing to me.
 
One of my favorite things with bruschetta is to make garlic bread.

Just place the bruschetta under the grill for a few minutes (until toasted) peel a garlic clove and whilst the bruschetta is still hot, rub the peeled garlic clove on top of it. The garlic melts very quicly and now you have a nice fresh piece of garlic bread.
 
Mmmm...Mmmmm garlic bread! I love a good garlic bread, especially if it's a good garlic cheese bread. Bread prices are up everywhere, and lifestyles are changing so much. It doesn't matter where you live, people are more health conscious and bread is one of those foods considered to be nothing but fat. I've even cut back, and I don't usually pay attention to that kind of thing. Give me a good garlic bread, though, and I could care less about calories!
 
mmm bread, i eat it everyday, it's actually one of my staple foods and i can't seem to see myself not having it even if the prices rise.
 
I love garlic bread! But I eat it only when I know I'm staying home :P
Last I heard, bread and pasta are the 2 things Italians eat the most. Bread shelves empty like crazy in the supermarkets!
 
I love bread and I must take care in not eating too much of it for my diet :P

I was thinking that with the economic problems that a lot of family now have the use of pasta and bread would have got up..
 
Chillout said:
One of my favorite things with bruschetta is to make garlic bread.

Just place the bruschetta under the grill for a few minutes (until toasted) peel a garlic clove and whilst the bruschetta is still hot, rub the peeled garlic clove on top of it. The garlic melts very quicly and now you have a nice fresh piece of garlic bread.
Click to expand...

That would be perfect with some pachino tomatoes and basel grown in your balcony, some good homemade olive oil, salt and some drops of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena D.O.P. , which is the original and the only one you should pay a high price for.

I usually eat bread only in Italy. Pane di grano duro, my favourite is the one from Genzano, but even michette from Milan or the "twins" from Ferrara are very good. Anyway I'm quite a gym addict and white bread is not a great choice, I often use black bread, even if I don't like so much the taste.

the healthy sandwich here's is...like anywhere: black bread, lettuce, tomatoes, turkey, primo sale cheese (it has no fats) and NO mayo"
 
I think you see this everywhere, not just in Italy. Bread is a carb and we are told that carbs are bad! I love bread though so I eat it. There is nothing better to me than a piece of Italian bread hot out of the oven!
 
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It's true that recent diet trends are leading people to believe that bread and other carbs are super unhealthy for you. I do believe this trend to a certain extent, but to be honest I don't think I could ever give up bread! Bread is probably my favourite food ever!
 
Veronese said:
Bread Consumption hits record low in Italy

Once a staple on Italian tables, bread is now disappearing due to changing life styles and rising prices, the Coldiretti farmers union said on Monday.

Bread consumption in the first seven months of the year fell 5.6% from the same period in 2006 and bread sales have tumbled by one third since 2000, Coldiretti said.

Annual bread consumption in the home is now at an historic low and has for the first time fallen below one million tonnes,â€Â to 989,000 tonnes.

According to Coldiretti, the decline in bread consumption is certainly linked to changing life styles but it has also coincided with a steady rise in retail prices, which have soared 419% in the past 20 yearsÂ.

The farmers union also pointed that the amount a farmer is paid for his wheat accounts for less than 10% of the price of the final baked product.

The price of bread differs from city to city, costing as much as 3.35 euros a kilo in Milan and as little as 2.08 euros in Rome.
Click to expand...

I think the reason for this is basically the growing concern towards maintaining good health. Bread is very much like rice and if a person is suffering from diabetes or at least high blood sugar, there is definitely a need to trim down on bread consumption.
 
Bread is bad for the health and for the weight only if you eat a lot of it. If anything, not eating carbs is unhealthy!

But, I may have another explanation for the low consumption of bread. Have you noticed how more and more people now are buying bread making machines, to make bread at home?
A bread making machine costs about 50-60 euros... so that's pretty cheap to begin with. To make a simple bread, you need few ingredients, which are also cheap. And, since I'm thinking about buying one of those bread machines myself, I thought about the costs and it turns out, a healthy bread you make at home will cost your about 40-50 cents, compared to at least 1 euro + all the chemicals they put in it.

So, this might be a good explanation to why bread consumption is not as it used to be.
 
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