Despite the general uncertainty due to the persistence of the pandemic, 2021 was a record year for sales of Prosciutto di Parma in trays, which increased by about 6% and for the first time, amounting for the first time to over 2 million sliced dry-cured hams, with more than 100 million packages.

After a fairly stable period, in 2019 sales of pre-sliced Parma ham started increasing again and surged in the last two years, partly because of the great changes brought by the pandemic, particularly in Italy, where 2021 saw an increase of about 12%, the equivalent of 30 million sold packages.

Year after year, the pre-sliced segment is showing its strength: sales in 2021 were helped by the confinement imposed by the pandemic, by prices and by the extension of the shelf life of trays, but it is a trend that is destined to last and become increasingly established. This is why it is important to continue to invest in order to grow, especially abroad, said Alessandro Utini, President of the Consortium of Prosciutto di Parma.

We will work in international markets as we did last year in order to consolidate these brilliant results, developing promotional initiatives with some European large-retail chains; this will allow us to build customer loyalty and to create interest around the product and its ease of use.

In 2021, 72 million trays were exported, an increase of 3% compared to the previous year.

Europe is by far the most important market for pre-sliced Prosciutto di Parma, due to its proximity and to reasons related to the shelf life of the product: here – including in Italy – 86% of all pre-sliced Parma ham is sold, amounting to 1,760,000 pre-sliced dry-cured hams; non-European countries absorb 14% of the sales, the equivalent of 390,000 pre-sliced dry-cured hams.

We have seen a significant change at the top of international markets: the USA, after three years of strong growth, becomes the most important foreign market in the pre-sliced Parma ham segment as well, with 275,000 pre-sliced dry-cured hams (+10.4%), overtaking the United Kingdom, which shows a negative mid-term trend, now accentuated by Brexit.

Countries showing a particularly positive trend include Germany with 255,000 pre-sliced dry-cured hams, a 5% increase, Poland, Japan and Ireland – the latter is probably absorbing a small part of the losses recorded in the United Kingdom.

As regards the time distribution of product consumption, in 2021 all quarters recorded record sales compared to the past: in particular, there was an exceptional peak in sales in the 3^rd quarter of the year – the summer period – both in Italy and abroad, the latter, however, with a more balanced distribution over the course of the year.