The fine food sector
Catalonia offers a range of gourmet products with the following values: tradition, craftsmanship, the quality of the land, innovation and exclusivity.
In parallel, the food sector is also going through its own transformation, fuelled by new trends in consumption and, inevitably, the emergence of new technologies.
New technologies have also burst onto the sector through start-ups seeking to address consumers' concerns.
The multi-product or fine food sector enjoys distinct market positioning because of its added value. This entails higher quality, exclusive sales channels, sophisticated and distinctive packaging, and a unique story (origin, person, land).
Olive oil stands out in the fine food sector: it has its own council and therefore at Prodeca we handle it differently.
Industry
The fine food industry is one of the main agri-food sectors of Catalonia with an annual turnover of around €7.6 Bn. If we include oil and fat manufacturing, this figure surpasses €10 Bn, or 44% of turnover in the food and drinks industry.
The Catalan fine food sector has a very robust and competitive structure, with more than 1,580 industries. There are an additional 197 oil-producing companies. Together, they account for 49.73% of companies in the food industry.
These companies employ 35,831 people.
Exports
The fine food sector is the second-largest agri-food exporting sector (Prodeca index) in both volume and value, which highlights the importance of the agri-food processing industry in Catalonia and its export capacity and potential.
With €2.9 Bn in exports, it accounts for 29.56% of total export value (2018). The olive oil sector represents 7.36% of Catalan agri-food exports, making it the fourth-largest exporting sector.
In terms of exports, it is the second-largest sector (27%) after meat, led by the following categories: patisserie and bakery products (10.21% of the fine food total), cocoa and preparations (9.35%), cereal-based products (8.41%), coffee (7.9%), extracts, essences and concentrates (6.96%), confectionary (6.39%), dairy products (4.54%), vegetable juices (3.39%), jams and marmalades (3.05%), preparations for soups (2.96%), beer (2.87%) and fruit juices (2.5%).
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