The Italian sporting goods industry raised its aggregate revenues by an estimated 8.4 percent to €12.2 billion in 2021, according to a survey conducted by its trade association, Assosport, among its 120 members, which market some 300 brands and employ 9,300 people, representing almost one third of the industry’s total turnover. The survey projects a further increase of 5.6 percent to €12.9 billion in 2022, which would lift the industry 2 percent above its pre-Covid level.
Italy’s exports of sporting goods products, which had fallen by 10 percent in 2020 due to the pandemic, jumped by 20 percent to €5.8 billion in the first nine months of last year, led by the U.S., France, Germany, Switzerland and the U.K.
Industry executives who participated in Assosport’s annual meeting, which was hosted by Tecnica Group, said they were particularly optimistic about the snow sports sector; which registered strong sales of ski products in the last few weeks, auguring well for the Olympic Games starting in Beijing on Friday. Growing demand is being registered in the entry-level segment, indicating interest by many newcomers.
During Assosport’s meeting, the industry’s optimism was tempered by the challenges imposed by the newest wave of Covid contaminations, inflating costs and the disruption of the supply chain. Giovanni Zoppas, who returned to the industry as Tecnica’s CEO last May after a nine-year stint in the eyewear sector, also indicated in a press conference the need to invest more in the digitalization of the industry and to lower the average age of its employees.
Aside from the skyrocketing cost of ocean freight, industry officials expressed concern over the availability of raw materials such as synthetic fibers for shoes and clothing, as well as metallic materials and components for bicycles and fitness equipment. It can take three to four months or more to get them, they said.
Sustainability is a big topic
About 40 percent of the respondents to a survey conducted among Assosport’s members in collaboration with a university felt that the growing cost of raw materials will act as an incentive to find alternative solutions by recycling products or by offering products that will have a lower impact on the environment. In general, only 47 percent of Assosport’s members felt that the Covid pandemic will make a change in terms of sustainability strategies, however.
Evidently, the industry has been investing in this area for a longer time. The survey showed that 61 percent of the respondents are allocating at least 10 percent of their investment budget to social and environmental sustainability. Investments in this area are expected to increase by 5 percent on average in the next three years.
A majority of 56 percent of the companies have been investing on cutting back carbon emissions, 55 percent on the use of natural resources, and 33 percent on reducing waste. Interestingly, the establishment of ethical standards within the company was mentioned as a more important motivation than economic advantages or external pressures.
Unfortunately, 45 percent of the companies in the sector are relying on external consultants and certification bodies as only half of them have sufficiently prepared staff members to take care of these issues. Furthermore, 40 percent of the respondents think that sustainable products are costlier. In terms of certification, 31 percent of the users apply it to products rather than processes.
