But was the news about the lack of sparkling water a half buffalo?
A few days ago Alberto Bertone, president and CEO of Acqua Sant'Anna, sowed panic by announcing an imminent shortage of sparkling water, which was denied shortly after by the president of Mineracqua, Ettore Fortuna. So where is the truth?
“We are desperate, it looks like the postwar period”, Alberto Bertone, president and CEO of Acqua Sant'Annasaid a few days ago, announcing an imminent lack of sparkling water due to the unavailable Co2.
An apocalyptic scene, however, resized by Ettore Fortuna, president of Mineracqua, the Italian federation of natural mineral water and spring water industries.
So, foresight or a nervous breakdown?
THE NUMBERS OF MINERAL WATER
To understand how a possible crisis can affect Italy, let's see some numbers. According to Corriere della sera , “we are the first consumers of mineral water in Europe, with 222 liters per capita per year (of which 30% with gas)”.
In Italy, the sector – as Il Fatto Alimentare writes – is in excellent health "since we are among the largest consumers in the world and on the market there are 200 brands capable of producing 13.7 billion liters every year".
Furthermore, Italians are particularly fond of sparkling water, in fact, in the first months of 2022 they preferred it to natural water: according to NielsenIQ data cited by Open , the sales of bubbles in the off-trade channel (hypermarkets, supermarkets and discount stores) recorded an increase of 6.4% in value (886 million) and 4.7% in volume in the period January-May 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.
WHAT BERTONE SAID
On 6 July, Bertone made it known that the production lines of Sant'Anna carbonated products would be stopped due to a lack of CO2. A serious problem which, according to the CEO of the Cuneo-based company, does not only concern the company he leads, but also all Italian and foreign competitors : “Co2 is nowhere to be found and all our competitors are in the same situation. We are desperate, it is another very serious problem that is added to the record increases in the price of raw materials and the drought that is impoverishing the sources ”.
Recalling the Co2 crisis that had already occurred last year, he added that the current one is returning "in the form of a real emergency" and "concerns all European producers".
WHAT LUCK SAID
It seems like watching a completely different film if you listen to Fortuna's words : "The recent statements by Alberto Bertone, CEO of Acqua Sant'Anna, on the lack of carbon dioxide used for sparkling water, have the effect of dramatize a situation that is certainly difficult but that our companies are facing with the responsibility and resilience that sets them apart ".
Fortuna admits that "the problem exists but it is a temporary difficulty that should be resolved in the next few days and therefore the risk of a shortage of sparkling mineral water does not exist".
At this point, the president of Mineracqua hypothesizes that Bertone's "dramatization" is "instrumental to the situation within the company that raised the alarm and which does not represent the category or 'the largest European producer of low-mineral water' or company with the 'largest production plant in the world: 16 bottling lines' as defined by some press organs ".
“So let us not fall into the trap of passing on the alarm to consumers for the problems of a single company in relation to large-scale distribution as stated by Bertone himself”, adds Fortuna.
The number one of Sant'Anna, in fact, also said thatthe large distribution – now "angry because we are unable to meet the requests" – is the same that "does not recognize the strong increases suffered by our company due to the rise in energy prices. and raw materials, up to 130-150% ".
WHY IS CO2 LACK?
In Europe, most of the CO2 for food uses, if it does not come from natural sources, comes from fertilizer plants, which obtain it as a by-product of ammonia processing, or as a by-product of bioethanol factories.
The lack of Co2, according to Bertone, is attributable to supplier companies that “prefer to allocate production to the healthcare sector”. The CEO of Sant'Anna explained that the company would be willing "to pay more carbon dioxide even if it was already very expensive, but there was no way of making our suppliers change their minds", so much so that embittered he says: “We managed to recover a small load that will come to us from Holland, but we will need it for a few days, maybe just one”.
According to Bertone, once the stocks of supermarkets and discount stores are exhausted, “there will be no more bottles for sale”.
On the other hand, Fortuna explained that "the suspension of the Co2 supply is due to maintenance work in one of the Italian plants of Air Liquide [French company, ed ], a problem which, moreover, has already occurred in the past" . And he goes on to state that “reassurances have been given on the return to normality, in the meantime we are making use of alternative suppliers or other European plants of Air Liquide itself so that the market and our consumers are supplied”.
OTHER ALARMS
If CO2 is lacking for water, it is also missing for all other carbonated drinks and Assobibe, the Confindustria association that represents producers of soft drinks (and is already anxious about the 'sugar tax' which will come into force in a few months ), joined Bertone's appeal : “The scarce availability of carbon dioxide is a further effect of the increase in the costs of energy, plastic, aluminum, cardboard and glass”.
But among the sectors concerned, The Food Fact reminds us, there is also the confectionery one, where CO2 is used both to limit the formation of bacteria and molds and as a refrigerant in freezing lines. Furthermore, it has also been used for years to extract caffeine from coffee and as a gas in the packaging of some foods packaged in a modified atmosphere such as in the case of fresh ravioli and tortellini.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/ma-la-notizia-sulla-mancanza-dellacqua-frizzante-era-una-mezza-bufaletta/ on Tue, 12 Jul 2022 05:10:21 +0000.