Adnkronos Milan, October 16 – (Adnkronos) – "The food service format in shopping centers represents 7% of the total market, with a value of €6 billion. It is a growing market, although we observe that between 2023 and 2024 there was growth in food service formats more closely linked to travel rather than the leisure segment.
This means that catering is a major driver of growth, both in terms of turnover at shopping centers and in itself.” These are the words of Tommaso Nastasi, partner at Deloitte Italy, interviewed in Milan at the 2025 edition of Aigrim Day – Chain Catering Forum, the annual event that takes stock of the evolution of the organized catering market and the main challenges of the future. The event was attended by the main market players, companies in the supply chain, representatives of associations, and institutions.
"The share of food and beverage in shopping center turnover has increased from 12% to 14%, reaching 16% for large centers, confirming the importance of food and beverage for shopping centers," Nastasi specifies. "Regarding shopping centers, there was strong growth in business volume in the 2023/2024 period, while in the first half of 2025 we saw a 1% contraction," he continues. "However, if we look at the performance of food and beverage, we observe a countertrend in food service, as it recorded a 1% increase, offset by a 1,3% decline in other product categories."
"Looking ahead, we can say that the outlook is generally positive, although we expect more modest growth. Based on the sentiment we've gleaned from operators, we expect growth to be more in value than volume," he concludes, "which is partly due to a change in mix rather than an expansion of the product range."