Cash-strapped Italians are refusing to let recession stop them enjoying their iconic panettone Christmas cake, and are even embracing variations on the tightly regulated recipe.
Italians ate about 38,000 tons of the dome-shaped cake last Christmas, according to industry association AIDEPI, and the two biggest producers are confident this year’s sales will hold up.
With one day to go until Christmas, market leader Bauli said this year’s orders could still outstrip 2012 and Maina, the second biggest producer, expects its sales to rise more than 20 per cent in 2013.
“Panettone is holding on despite economic difficulties, showing the Italian consumer does not intend to give it up,” said Marco Brandani, chief executive of Maina.
Bauli chairman Alberto Bauli said his company expected to make about €500 million from all its baked goods this year, up from €483 million last year.
Italian consumers, shopping for Christmas during the country’s longest recession for 60 years, are still choosing expensive panettone, which can cost €5 in supermarkets but sells for upwards of €28 in upmarket bakeries.
“People are being careful about what they spend, but they want quality,” said Antonio Cipriani, standing behind the counter at his cafe and bakery in central Milan. “They might buy one panettone instead of two, or a smaller one.”
Breaking bread together has a special meaning
The traditional panettone weighs one kilogram and takes 30 hours to make from a precise mix of flour, butter, eggs and sugar that has been enshrined in Italian law since 2006.
Cipriani said variations on the traditional product, such as a lighter focaccia version reminiscent of the Italian loaf, and containing pieces of pineapple, had been popular this year.
Cakes that stray from the regulations cannot be labelled panettone, but this does not deter dessert enthusiasts, according to Giovanna Casale, whose company Olio Carli makes a sweet Christmas cake using olive oil in place of butter.
“I would say sales have been rising,” Casale said.
Maina says sales of its panettone filled with goodies such as chocolate or coffee cream have risen by 35 per cent this year. It has also introduced a savoury version.
To appeal directly to foreign markets, it has also developed new flavours, such as peanut butter for the US and Grand Marnier orange liqueur for the British market.
“We have tried to adapt the traditional recipe to their tastes,” said Brandani. Maina made 13 per cent of revenue from exports last year, more than the average of less than 10 per cent of turnover made by Italian panettone-makers from sales abroad.
The classic panettone accounts for just under half of all Christmas cake sales in Italy, according to AIDEPI.
Bauli says its significance goes beyond the pleasure of a tasty treat for families at Christmas.
“These products also have a religious connotation,” Bauli said. “Breaking bread together has a special meaning.”