Sourcing · Italian food
Which Italian foods sell best in the US?
That is what the US imported in food and beverages from Italy in 2025, up 26% from $6.7 billion in 2021 (UN Comtrade, US-reported imports, HS chapters 02 to 22, our sum). The market is growing. The question is which part of it.
What does the US buy most from Italy?
Wine, by a distance. Then a cluster of pantry products, each worth more than half a billion dollars.
| Product (HS code) | US imports from Italy, 2025 | Change vs 2021 | Italy's share of US imports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wine (2204) | $2,150M | −9% | 33% |
| Olive oil (1509) | $834M | +57% | 35% |
| Pasta (1902) | $801M | +64% | 42% |
| Sauces and condiments (2103) | $682M | +104% | 25% |
| Bread, biscuits, pastry (1905) | $602M | +65% | 5% |
| Mineral water (2201) | $489M | +124% | 42% |
| Cheese (0406) | $391M | −10% | 23% |
| Spirits and liqueurs (2208) | $234M | +46% | 3% |
| Coffee (0901) | $212M | +59% | 2% |
| Chocolate and cocoa products (1806) | $183M | +156% | 3% |
| Vinegar (2209) | $134M | +10% | 69% |
| Prepared tomatoes (2002) | $93M | +141% | 52% |
Source: UN Comtrade, US imports by value, 2025 and 2021, extracted 19 October 2026. Share = imports from Italy divided by US imports from all countries, same code.
Which Italian foods are growing fastest?
The ones you cook with. Sauces doubled. Prepared tomatoes grew 141%, chocolate 156%, mineral water 124%. Pasta and olive oil, already large, added more than half again.
Wine went the other way, down 9% in four years, and so did cheese. So the American table is moving from the bottle to the pantry. A buyer still building a range around Italian wine alone is sourcing for the market of 2021.
Where does Italy already own the shelf?
Where the category was born. Italy supplies 60% of the dry pasta the US imports, 69% of its vinegar and 52% of its prepared tomatoes. These are safe bets, and crowded ones.
Owning the category means your competitors already buy Italian. Origin is no longer the reason to choose a supplier: it is the entry ticket. What sets one producer apart is the region, the process, the certification, the story your customer can repeat. Ask for those first.
Where is Italy still small?
Bakery, spirits, chocolate, non-alcoholic drinks. Italy holds 5% of US bakery imports, 3% of chocolate, 3% of spirits and 5% of non-alcoholic beverages. Coffee is low too, but that code includes green beans Italy does not grow.
A small share is not a weak product. Often it is a category where Italian producers simply never knocked. The non-alcoholic aperitivo is one case: America adopted the ritual, and the glass is rarely Italian. We covered it in Who makes non-alcoholic aperitivo in Italy?.
What should I import, then?
Not the best-seller list. That is where everyone already looks. We read three things together: is the category growing in the US, how much of it is already Italian, and does a specific Italian producer have something your customer will pay for.
Olive oil shows how this works. The category grew 57%, Italy holds 37% of extra virgin imports, and inside it a high-phenolic segment is pricing in multiples. See Where can I buy high-phenolic olive oil from Italy?. For the paperwork before the first pallet, read What do I need to import Italian food into the US?.
Frequently asked questions
Is wine still the top Italian import in the US?
Yes, at $2.15 billion in 2025. It is also down 9% from 2021, while most pantry categories grew.
What is the best Italian product to import for a new business?
There is no single answer. Look for a category that is growing, where Italy's share is not yet saturated, and where you can name the producer's advantage in one sentence.
Does Italian cheese sell well in the US?
It sells $391 million a year, down 10% since 2021. Fresh cheese is the exception: up 17%, with Italy at 27% of US imports.
Where do these numbers come from?
UN Comtrade, US-reported import values in dollars, 2025 against 2021. Italian export statistics (ISTAT) measure the same trade from the other side and give different figures.
How do I find producers in these categories?
Trade data shows who ships, platforms show who sells, and neither tastes the product. Start from How do I source food wholesale from Italy?, or tell us the category.