Italian frozen-food market reaches €6.1 billion as consumption tops one million tonnes
Italian frozen-food consumption rose 1% to 1,040,596 tonnes in 2025, while market value increased 3% to €6.1 billion. Retail remained the largest channel, and frozen vegetables, fish, potatoes, pizza and ready meals led household demand.
Consumption remains above one million tonnes
Italian consumers bought 1,040,596 tonnes of frozen food in 2025, keeping national consumption above one million tonnes for a third consecutive year. Volume increased 1% from 2024, when growth had reached 2.3%, according to the annual market report from the Italian Institute of Frozen Foods, known as IIAS.
The market generated €6.1 billion in sales across retail and food-service channels, an increase of 3% year on year. The faster rise in value than in physical volume indicates that the average value of products sold increased, although the IIAS figures published by SoldiOnline and Il Sole 24 Ore do not provide a breakdown between pricing and product mix.
Annual consumption per person increased from 17.5 kilograms in 2024 to 17.7 kilograms in 2025. IIAS president Giorgio Donegani said convenience, food safety, affordability, nutritional qualities and the potential to reduce waste continued to support demand. The institute described frozen food as comparatively resilient despite pressure on household spending.
Retail accounts for most volumes and revenue
Retail sales for household consumption reached 642,140 tonnes, up 1.1% from 2024. This channel, which includes supermarkets, hypermarkets, neighbourhood stores and discount chains, generated €3.866 billion. It therefore represented the largest part of the market in both volume and value.
Food service accounted for another 398,456 tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 1%. The channel, covering restaurants, bars, catering operators and canteens, was valued at an estimated €1.9 billion. Retail volume was about 61.7% of the national total, while food service represented approximately 38.3%, based on the IIAS figures.
Household demand also accelerated after the reporting year. Retail volumes in the first half of 2026 were 3.4% higher than in the corresponding period of 2025, IIAS said. This suggests that producers, cold-chain operators and retailers entered the second half with stronger domestic-channel momentum than the 1.1% growth recorded for all of 2025.
Vegetables lead as frozen fish gains ground
Frozen vegetables remained Italy’s largest household category, with consumption exceeding 200,000 tonnes. Frozen fish moved into second place with more than 100,000 tonnes when natural, prepared and breaded products are combined. It ranked ahead of frozen potatoes, which accounted for more than 90,000 tonnes.
Frozen pizza reached 70,000 tonnes and grew 3.1%, while ready meals rose 1.7% to 66,000 tonnes. Donegani said growth extended across categories, with fish, pizza, prepared vegetables and ready meals particularly prominent. For manufacturers and distributors, the figures point to broad-based demand rather than dependence on a single product, while the continuing retail acceleration raises the importance of freezer capacity, replenishment and temperature-controlled logistics.
