Crisis and price increase. But at Easter, artisanal Sardinian desserts always work . A report from Confartigianato says so: on the tables 2 43 traditional island specialties created by over 1,800 companies . Casadinas, ricottas, tilliccas, pardulas but also doves and chocolate eggs.
The analysis that the research office of Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna has carried out on the confectionery and pastry sector shows how all the specialties are produced by 1,862 pastry shops and companies in the confectionery sector , of which 1,351 are artisan companies representing 72.6% of the total realities of the sector, a sector which also includes fresh pastries, ice cream, biscuits, cocoa, chocolate and confectionery. Despite this, the island is missing 560 artisan pastry chefs, ice cream makers and canners and artisan bakers and pasta makers, 48.7% of the 1,150 expected admissions.
« Our Easter tables are enriched with traditional products, which we know how to make like few others in the world - say Fabio Mereu and Daniele Serra , president and secretary of Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna - the island boasts a notable quantity of highly suitable products artisanal, to be preferred and enjoyed in the knowledge of having chosen a good, healthy product made in our laboratories, which employ local pastry chefs and preserve the recipes handed down from generation to generation."
In the Sardinian regional agri-food biodiversity, with a high artisanal vocation, fresh pasta and bakery, biscuit making, pastry making and confectionery stand out with 85 products, equal to 35% of the total, followed by 63 vegetable products in their natural or processed state, equal to to 25.9% of the total and 21 cheeses, equal to 8.6%: these three types of products concentrate a good 69.5% of the total.
However, consumption is impacted by the surge in raw material prices. Sugar in 2023 recorded an increase of 28.4% on an annual basis, while cocoa prices on international markets in February 2024 more than doubled (+107.9%) compared to 2023.
Compared to last Easter, consumer prices of fresh pastry products recorded a growth rate of +3.3%. Instead, if we consider the three-year period 2021-2024, the prices of fresh pastries grew by 10.9%.
(Unioneonline/vl)
