High prices cut by 4.7 percent the quantities of food purchased by Italians in 2023, who are, however, still forced to spend 7.7 percent more due to price increases brought about by the energy crisis. This is according to Coldiretti analysis of the effects of inflation in the first quarter of 2023 based on Istat data on retail trade. The difficult situation is made clear by the fact that low-cost food purchases are flying, with discount food outlets posting a +9.1 percent jump in value sales in the quarter, the highest among retail shelves. Thus, the difficulties that led Italians to cut back on fruit and vegetable purchases during 2022 continued this year, which plummeted 9 percent in quantity from the previous year, to the lowest since the turn of the century, according to Coldiretti analysis based on Cso Italy data. Italians reduced quantities of pears by 17 percent, oranges and table grapes by 11 percent, peaches, nectarines and kiwis by 8 percent, and apples by 5 percent, while among vegetables, purchases of asparagus plummeted by 24 percent and radicchios by 20 percent. As a result, at 5.5 billion kilograms in 2022, Italians' fruit and vegetable consumption was half a billion kilograms lower than in the previous year, with worrying effects on citizens' health.
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