There is a more pressing issue than market value at play, though: quality. Take a closer look at lines such as Tesco’s Hearty Food Co spaghetti (20p/500g) and penne (29p/500g), Asda Smart Price Pasta Shapes (29p/500g) and Morrisons Savers Penne (30p/500g), and you’ll see why. All are made in Italy with durum wheat flour, the traditional ingredient of pasta. That’s where the good news ends. Because that durum wheat is mixed with cheaper soft wheat flour to create a blend that contains around 5g of protein per 100g.
It wouldn’t pass muster in pasta’s heartland. Italian law states that all Italian-made pasta sold domestically must contain 100% durum wheat and have a protein content of no lower than 10.5%. Anything less can only be sold abroad. It’s a point of national pride: when the EEC overruled Italy’s pasta imports ban in 1988, newspaper La Repubblica called pasta made with soft flour ‘gluey and insipid’.
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“It makes sense that the shortage of Italian durum would be a factor in driving exports of pasta containing soft wheat flour,” explains Barros. “Italy, as the world’s largest producer of pasta, would need high volumes of high-quality durum wheat, but due to low domestic production, the country would have to counterbalance the reduced supply somehow.”
Hence the influx of soft wheat pasta to the UK. “Essentially, Italy is shipping all the crap they’re not allowed to sell there to the UK,” says one well-placed industry source.
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As retailers scrimp on their own-label offerings, that’s emerging as an increasingly important selling point for brands. Barilla, for example, says it is “100% committed to quality” and points to its “direct contracts with more than 5,000 farmers in Italy”. De Cecco’s #alladececco campaign hammers home its mission to ‘search for the best in everything we do, paying attention to detail’.
Meanwhile, market leader Napolina has launched high-end offerings such as Bronze Die, Organic Gluten-free Vegetable and 50/50 high-fibre pasta lines. “Brands are adding value to the pasta category by focusing on premium ranges that respond to consumer trends and meet demand,” says Napolina commercial director Neil Brownbill.
Value (£m) % growth
Napolina 33.1 0.5%
De Cecco 11.3 7.8%
Barilla 5.2 35.0%
Pasta Reggia 4.6 157.1%
Marshalls 3.3 -2.2%
Garofalo 2.8 14.8%
Rummo 2.4 44.9%
