270 traditional agri-food products, 9 excellences with the European DOP, IGP and STG trademarks, 5,783 agri-food companies, of which 2,916 are artisans, with 46,042 employees, of which 10,042 are artisans. Pasta, bread, sweets, cheeses, meat, fruit, fish and drinks, fresh or preserved, which are produced, packaged and shipped daily in Italy and the rest of the world.
These are the main numbers of the immense "deposit" of the island's food economy that emerges from the analysis of the Research Office of Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna which, in the dossier "Quality, tradition and sustainability of food craftsmanship" has reworked the data from Istat, UnionCamere-Infocamere and MIPAAF, on food businesses and production.
Sardinia has 2.8% of quality food products recognized by the European Union through the DOC (Protected Designation of Origin), IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) and STG brands. The list includes 9: Sardinian lamb, Sardinian Spiny Artichoke, Culurgionis d'Ogliastra, Fiore Sardo, Pecorino Romano, Pecorino Sardo, Sardinian Oil, Sardinian Saffron and Sebadas.
The richness of the Sardinian territory is also expressed in 270 traditional agri-food products (PAT), 4.8% of the entire Italian heritage, characterized by processing, conservation and seasoning methods consolidated over time: 98 fresh pasta and bakery products, 68 vegetable products, 19 meats, 21 cheeses, 20 delicatessen products, 20 products of animal origin, 15 fish and molluscs, 7 drinks and spirits, 1 fat and 1 condiments.
According to the report, the Island has recorded the highest national number of certified DOP, IGP and STG agri-food operators : 15,440, 19% of the Italian total: primary producers, i.e. nurseries, agricultural companies, livestock companies that supply their raw materials to thousands of small businesses, especially artisanal ones, such as pasta factories, rice mills, mills, oil mills, dairies, preserves and jams, honey factories, processors of products in oil and packaged vegetables, ready meals, wineries, breweries, salami factories that, in turn, transform them into excellent products with European certification.
"This is a sector in full growth and evolution - says Giacomo Meloni, President of Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna - which increasingly responds to the needs of a clientele that over the decades has changed and refined its tastes and eating styles". "It is thanks to these "food artisans" that our products are so popular abroad too - adds Meloni - an economic heritage and cultural tradition that must be constantly defended and enhanced".
At a territorial level, 588 artisan enterprises operate in Cagliari with 2,188 employees, 544 in Nuoro with 1,865 workers, 271 in Oristano with 798 workers, 879 in Sassari Gallura with 3,089 employees and 634 in Southern Sardinia with 2,100 workers.
According to a recent national survey by Confartigianato, the percentage of obese people in our country is equal to 9.8% of the adult population, a percentage that gives us the record for the slimmest among the 7 countries bordering the Mediterranean and third place among the OECD states (after Japan and South Korea) where the average obesity rate is 19.5%.
"The genuineness of artisan specialties, typical characteristics of the food and wine tradition of Sardinia, are aspects that consumers always keep in mind - says Daniele Serra, Secretary of Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna - they are good for your health, keep you fit, move the economy and help keep the flag of food made in Sardinia flying high in the world. The "recipe" of artisan products is the respect of raw materials and traditional processing techniques - he continues - and an increasingly widespread attention to satisfying particular dietary needs or those related to food intolerances of customers".
"Our artisans of taste also use typical production methods that highlight the link with the regional territory - concludes Serra - for this reason, the products and businesses of our food tradition, which have their distinctive element in the quality and craftsmanship of the workmanship, must be promoted even more".
(Online Union)
