Latino passion, italian cheese

2017 – An up and coming market for Italian food export, even if in Latin America the average wage is lower than North America’s, it’s continuing to grow.

We’ve seen the continuous economic growth that the South American countries have been experiencing for years, this attracts our industries, including dairy products. A centuries-old tradition of quality, coupled with a tough business spirit has brought our cheeses to tables all over the world, even in the new continent, but with surprising spin-offs in flavor choices.

According to the category’s association, Assolatte, in Hong Kong the most popular are the blue cheeses; in China, the fresh and soft, such as ricotta and mascarpone; and similar preferences of soft textures are found in other Asian countries.

But what do our far relatives from Central and South America prefer? One look at what’s happening online is enough to understand how those Italian delicacies feed a phenomenon that barely finds its limits in “food porn”.

From October 2016 to November 2017 in spanish speaking countries of Central and South America we found almost 135K messages, articles or posts on Italian cheeses, creating more than 3 million interactions. The highest number was from Argentina, a fact that confirms the country’s closeness to Italian traditions.

When talking about food, on social channels the main media found were images, because users love sharing a pic of what they’re about to eat, at home or in a restaurant.

Same situation for our cheese products in countries like Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela or Colombia, where users enthusiastically share messages and online photos of “Quesos italianos” and how they use them in sumptuous dishes, accompanying them with hashtags like #instafood, #foodporn e #foodie.