Italy Animal Feed Market Overview, 2029

The animal feed market in Italy is a vital and dynamic sector within the country's agricultural industry. Italy has a rich agricultural heritage, with a diverse range of livestock production, including dairy farming, poultry, swine, and aquaculture. The animal feed industry plays a crucial role in supporting the health, growth, and productivity of these livestock species. Italy's feed manufacturing sector comprises a mix of large-scale industrial feed mills and smaller local producers, providing a wide range of feed products to meet the specific nutritional needs of different animals. The industry places a strong emphasis on feed safety and quality control, adhering to strict regulations and quality assurance programs to ensure consumer confidence and compliance with standards. There is also a growing focus on sustainability and environmental stewardship, with feed manufacturers incorporating sustainable ingredients, implementing responsible sourcing practices, and exploring alternative protein sources. Technological advancements, such as automation and digitalization, are being adopted to optimize feed formulations, improve feed efficiency, and enhance production management. Italy's strong food culture and reputation for quality also influence the animal feed market, with consumers valuing animal welfare, sustainable practices, and transparency in the feed industry. The animal feed market in Italy is a vibrant and evolving sector that plays a vital role in supporting the country's livestock production and agricultural sustainability. Increased demand for organic feed and industrial livestock production further augments the market's growth. Poultry requires a lot of protein, fats, and calcium, which poultry by-products and fish meals provide. Further, the increased belief of consumers to include more protein in their diet on a regular basis is driving the demand for poultry meat, which correspondingly creates more demand for poultry feed by poultry farms.

According to the research report "Italy Animal Feed Market Overview, 2029," published by Bonafide Research, the Italy Animal Feed market is anticipated to grow at more than 3% CAGR from 2024 to 2029. The demand for animal feed in Italy is primarily driven by the country's significant livestock production and consumption. Italy has a strong agricultural tradition, with diverse livestock sectors, including dairy farming, poultry, swine, and aquaculture. The need to provide nutritionally balanced feeds to support the health, growth, and productivity of these animals is a major driver of the feed market. Consumer preferences and market trends significantly impact the animal feed market in Italy. Increasingly, consumers are seeking products that align with their values, such as organic and natural feeds, sustainable sourcing, and animal welfare considerations. This driver encourages feed manufacturers to respond to changing consumer demands and develop products that meet these preferences. Aqua feed farming is increasingly being commercialised with its demands, resulting in an increased demand for feed to raise them. Cattle feed remains with more market share as it is the most demanded meat by consumers. Animal supplements are expected to be in demand over the forecast period as the animals are deprived of vitamins and minerals from the feed they are fed. Also, due to low feed quality and to improve their structural body composition, supplements are fed to animals. The pellet form of animal feed is expected to remain the main form of feed, but the crumbled form is also expected to be in demand during future years. Plant-based sources remain the main source of protein for animal feed as they provide a range of benefits for both the animals as well as feed manufacturers. The high prices of animal feed and their raw materials act as a hindrance as farmers do not want to invest a major chunk of their income in feeds. Demand for animal feed in the country is increasing with greater emphasis on animal health as well as rapid growth in animal farming, which are expected to increase its demands in the future.

Cereals by ingredient type are rich in starch content and are highly preferred to feed animals. Every grain or cereal varies in its nutritional content and digestive anatomy of the animal. Starch that is completely digested before the end of the small intestine (SI) provides the maximum amount of glucose from the grain to support growth. Barely, corn, oats, and rye are entirely used as animal feed and only small amounts are used for human consumption. These grains and cereals might be fed in whole or compound form, mixed with other bi-products or oils, minerals or vitamins to form a complete meal for animals. The produced cereals are stored after drying to reduce moisture levels and preserve them for the full year. Since some are seasonal grains, they need to be produced for the whole year and stored to meet the demands. Production is highly influenced by particular crop failures, droughts, or climatic conditions.

Animal feed Pellets are made from corn, bean pulp, straw, rice husk, and other cereals and grains for different animals. They have comprehensive nutrition, improve digestibility of feed, decrease picky eaters of animals and are easy to store and transport. The pellets often contain grease as they provide oxidation and hydrolysis. Oxidation helps to convert unsaturated fats into saturated fats when the feed pellets have improper fats as it is easy to hydrolyse. The quality of pellets can be defined by the repeated handling, bagging, transportation, and storage feed lines without much damage or fine particles. However, the pellet quality and efficiency depend on the raw materials used, like corn and soy lack the ability to achieve good pellet quality, while that of wheat increases pellet durability because of high protein content and hemi-cellulose in contrast to corn and soy products.

The Italian animal feed market is diverse, encompassing various categories based on livestock types and ingredient sources. By Livestock, the primary segments include Cattle Feed, Poultry Feed, Pig Feed, Aqua Feed, and others. Poultry feed remains the largest segment, accounting for nearly 40% of total production, although it has seen a decline due to challenges like avian influenza. Cattle feed is also significant, especially with the growing demand for dairy products, while pig feed has experienced a more modest decline. Aqua feed, catering to fish and other aquatic species, is gaining traction as aquaculture expands. By Source, animal feed can be classified into Plant-based and Animal-based categories. Plant-based feeds primarily consist of grains like corn and soy, which are crucial for livestock nutrition. However, Italy faces challenges in sourcing these ingredients domestically, leading to increased dependency on imports. Animal-based feeds include byproducts from meat and dairy processing, which are increasingly utilized due to their nutritional value. The current landscape reflects a shift towards more sustainable practices, with an emphasis on utilizing agro-industrial byproducts as alternative raw materials in feed formulations.



However, COVID-19 has caused some problems and changes in the feed industry, like many other industries, and the Italy feed industry is no exception. It had a negative impact due to disruptions in supply chain activities caused by global trade restrictions. A sharp drop in demand for restaurant meals and an increase in demand for grocery store food, combined with certain challenges in reorienting meat supply networks, resulted in a surge in retail meat prices and occasional grocery store stock-outs of specific meat products. Lower demand for cattle and supplies of beef and pork resulted from the drop in demand.


Considered in this report:
• Geography: Italy
• Base year: 2023
• Estimated year: 2024
• Forecast year: 2029

Aspects covered in this report
• Italy animal feed market with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

By Ingredient:
• Cereals
• By Products
• Cakes & Meal
• Supplements
• Others

By Livestock:
• Cattle Feed
• Poultry Feed
• Pig Feed
• Aqua Feed
• Others

By Form:
• Pellet
• Mash
• Crumbles
• Cubes and Cakes

By Source:
• Plant-based
• Animal-based

The approach of the report:
This report consists of a combined approach of primary as well as secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and listing out the companies that are present in the market. The secondary research consists of third party sources such as press releases, annual report of companies, analysing the government generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources primary research was conducted by making telephonic interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducted trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this we have started doing primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting consumers in regional aspects, tier aspects, age group, and gender. Once we have primary data with us we have started verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended audience
This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations & organizations related to Animal Feed Industry, government bodies and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.