Sales of pasta in Italy have fallen by more than 10% in the last five years, with nearly a quarter of Italian consumers cutting back on the amount of pasta they eat. That’s according to new research from Mintel. Sales amounted to 908,000 tonnes in 2016 or 15.2kg per person – down from 17kg in 2011. Mintel suggested that Italy’s love of pasta had ‘gone off the boil’, although the average Italian still consumes more of the foodstuff than their counterparts in other countries.

Only Russia and Brazil consumed more pasta by volume in 2016 – 1.18 million and 1.22 million tonnes respectively – because of populations more than double the size of Italy. Mintel said that consumers were much less likely now to avoid carbohydrates than they were five years ago, and as a result alternative pasta offerings like organic, gluten-free and wholewheat have exploded in popularity.