Quick Take — The Italian organic label is launched

greater value for supply chains and ‘Made in Italy’ products. It will appear alongside the European Union’s organic production logo.

… “In 2025, the positive trend in domestic consumption will strengthen, rising by over 9 per cent compared with the previous year. The value of organic product consumption in Italy will reach 4.4 billion euros (a 9.2 per cent increase on 2024), the highest ever recorded, accounting for 4 per cent of the total value of national agri-food expenditure. Eight regions, together with the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, have already exceeded the European target of 25 per cent of utilised agricultural area under organic farming, which in 2025 accounts for 19.4 per cent of the total national area (2,377,749 hectares). There are, meanwhile, 95,389 organic producers, of whom 85,443 are farms.”

The sector faces many problems: are we putting obstacles in the way of organic farming, whilst encouraging the use of pesticides, and promoting wine, the excessive consumption of which is carcinogenic?

Furthermore, large-scale retailers have trivialised private-label products, stripping them of their value.

The result is that the area converted to organic farming in Italy fell (-5.4 per cent) in 2025, as highlighted by Giuseppe Coletti on LinkedIn.

Labels and advertising – I’m thinking of the pasta adverts – are of no use whatsoever if the sector is, in fact, penalised by a decree that undermines its very survival.

Quick Take — The global olive oil market continues to show strong prospects for growth

After reaching a value of $14.86 billion in 2025, the sector is expected to rise to $15.73 billion in 2026, reaching $23.45 billion by 2034, with an average annual growth rate of 5.1 per cent…

Premium and organic oils now account for 27 per cent of total sales, compared with 19 per cent in 2019. This trend is particularly evident in North America and Asian markets, where rising disposable income means consumers are willing to pay a premium of between 20 and 30 per cent for certified, traceable oils that meet high quality standards…

However, these positive prospects must contend with an increasingly complex production environment.

Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall in the Mediterranean basin have led to an estimated reduction in olive yields of between 3 and 5 per cent per year since 2020. This situation makes investment in efficient irrigation systems and the development of cultivars that are more drought-resistant essential…

Quick Take — Naturasì is running a marketing campaign that has turned into misinformation about vaccines in intensive livestock farming

Read *Il Fatto Alimentare*, which states that “NaturaSì ’s approach amounts to a clean-labelling strategy and pre-emptive marketing”. Aware of the strong sensitivity and mistrust felt by a section of consumers towards terms such as ‘vaccines’ or ‘mRNA’, the company has sought to safeguard the reputation of its supply chain. The latent risk of this messaging, however, is that it may lead people to believe that the rest of the conventional supply chain makes use of biotechnologies which, in fact, are not actually used in reality…”

NaturaSì, the company that markets organic products and is owned by Boniface Ferraresi, has, in the past, run questionable advertising campaigns.

Quick Take — Amazon on Whole Foods

“Over the past two years, we have cut prices and doubled the number of promotions to deliver greater value to our customers,” wrote Buechel. “Since 2017, savings like these have added up to hundreds of millions of dollars for customers. We’re arguing that you don’t have to choose between quality and value, and we’re offering industry-leading prices on high-quality food. …

“We were the first retailer to launch our certified organic regenerative products, and we are proud that, in 2025 alone, more than 61% of all fresh produce sold in our stores was organic, compared to an industry average of 16%”