Italy's Famed Food Makers Struggle; Shrink'g Home Market; Think Japan

choi

Manuela Mesco, Prices Pinch Prosciutto Trade; European malaise hits Italy's renowned food makers who struggle to export. Wall Street Journal, Jan 3, 2015.
www.wsj.com/articles/italys-ham- ... -survive-1420234468

Quote:

"The food industry makes up about one-seventh of Italy’s economy, but with the country locked in its third recession in six years, [domestic] consumer spending has fallen 13% since 2008, according to consumers’ association Federconsumatori.

"Just 12% of overall Italian food producers sell abroad at all, and total Italian food exports are half those of Germany, [consulting firm] Nomisma says.

My comment:
(a) It is hard for me whether to recommend reading the rest of text. Maybe quotations above are enough.
(b) "For years, Eli Prosciutti, a family-run maker of Italian ham, stuck close to home. The Parma-based maker of buttery-soft San Daniele prosciutto barely ventured abroad, daunted by the thicket of health regulations"

prosciutto (noun masculine; plural: prosciutti)
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prosciutto

(c)
(i)
(A) prosciutto
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosciutto
(a dry-cured ham that is usually thinly sliced and served uncooked, section 1 Etymology; section 2 Manufacture)
(B) Jinhua ham  金华火腿
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinhua_ham
(a type of dry-cured ham)
(C) So is jamón of Spain.
(ii) ham
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham
(section 4 Methods: dry curing, wet curing and smoking)

(d)
(i) The consulting firm Nomisma
www.nomisma.it/index.php/en/
is based in Bologna, Italy.
(ii) nomisma
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomisma
(the ancient Greek word for "money")

(e) "Some Italian] brands are also riding the coattails of Eataly, a gourmet Italian supermarket that has become a sensation abroad for its array of Italian delicacies and in-store restaurants. The store’s Fifth Avenue outlet in New York City rings up sales of $80 million a year, with about 5,000 customers a day. Eataly expects to post €400 million in sales in 2014, a 33% rise on the year. "
(i) Eataly combines "eat" and Italy."
(ii) its website:
eataly.com/
(iii) Eataly
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eataly
(founded by Oscar Farinetti in 2007; based in Turin's suburb)

(f) WSJ was under pressure to publish this report ASAP (though it might have planned it for a while). You see, Economist had published (online) a very similar report:
Italy’s small food-makers; Export or die. Economist, Jan 3, 2015.

Yet Economist usually releases issues online two days ahead. Surely WSJ got wind of it.