Quick Take — Pam has to decide if it is a supermarket or if it wants to be a discounter

Luigi Rubinelli writes: ‘At Pam there is an obsession with comparison with the discount store. This can be seen in the price communication variations. Too much repetition”

I would add that this fixation was already there years ago, see the first picture below which is from 2021 . The second picture below is from 2026 and is from Alimentando: I included it to make it clear that slogans and colours are always the same.

Note that in 2024 the group’s growth was lower than inflation but above all that Pam, in the same year, did NOT rank among the cheapest chains in Italy.

If Pam wants to measure itself against the discounters, instead of doing useless generic communication, why does it not do comparative advertising against the discounters, like – for example – Leclerc against Lidl, in France?

N.B.: in 2025 Pam only ‘distinguished itself’ – so to speak – by having some of its cashiers do the ‘trolley test’, sacking them and being obliged to reinstate them, making a big impression.

Quick Take — Cultured meat in crisis: market at a standstill, the ‘hybrid route’ is explored rather than the radical alternative

Cultured meat, the honeymoon is over: closures, slowdowns and the ‘hybrid way’ to survivethe sector of alternatives to meat – and thus also cultured meat, together with vegetable substitutes – is now growing barely between 0 and 1% per year. This is not just a slowdown, but a sign of stagnation. According to Marco Tschanz, Director of Bell Food Group Switzerland, the reason is not mysterious: for many consumers these products remain niche products, held back above all by a trivial and very powerful problem, the oldest of all: taste. The taste does not compare with that of meat, and there is also the image of food perceived as highly processed, ‘with numerous additives’, admits Tschanz…

The only ones to bet on it, for now, are the Chinese.

Quick Take — Retail prices in Italy and inflation: antitrust investigates

In a nutshell, food inflation is higher than total inflation (which includes other items, such as energy, services, etc.) and therefore the AGCM opened a file on it.

We fear it has done so unnecessarily because the prices of many consumer goods – used every day in the lives of Italians – have risen sharply, much higher than average, even in the food sector as a whole. Below – in the first image – you will find some examples. This has also happened in other countries (e.g. meat in the USA).

Even during Covid- 19 a similar investigation was triggered, which then ended up in thin air: the real, long-standing problem, which has never been addressed and solved, is that of farmers’ profitability (see Repubblica piece below). On this issue you can also read this article.

Written on 24 December, updated on 25 December 2025

PDO & PGI certifications

‘Two thirds of the pork legs processed in Italy come from pigs bred in Spain and Northern Europe…’. And unfortunately some scandals – such as prosciuttopoli – have shaken the sector: we need ad hoc marketing campaigns that explain the value of the PDO

Quick Take — US: dollar sales of fresh beef increased by 12.4% to USD 44 billion

But beef prices have risen 6.7% in the past year, with inflation accelerating in recent months, according to data from Chicago-basedCircana.

Despite rising prices, beef is seeing growth in premium segments, such as the Prime line of Certified Angus Beef (pictured below). Source : Progressive Grocer

The increase in total volume (kg) – premium and non-premium – was still very strong at 5.7%. Read more on the subject here.

JBS: skyrocketing meat prices in the US amid use of anti-obesity drugs and increasing protein consumption

The anti-obesity molecule revolution is challenging the model of the industry giants, which could lose up to USD 90 billion in the US by 2031. As a result, multinationals are trying to switch to Europe and a more protein-rich offer. And US restaurants – given the level of meat inflation – are struggling and reducing staff and portions of their dishes

The European Parliament votes to dismantle the law against deforestation

The anti-deforestation legislation, hailed as revolutionary by environmental organisations, was strongly criticised from the start by some countries, such as Brazil, the US and, within the EU, Germany, eager to protect their foresters. Several large companies, including Nestlé, Danone and Ferrero, had however prepared themselves and were urging Brussels to definitively implement it…