Rummo, a pasta company based in Campania, announced on Tuesday, 20 October, that it had suspended production because its raw materials had run out. The suspension was reported by Reuters. Cosimo Rummo, the company's chief executive, told La Repubblica that almost all of the large pasta makers in neighbouring Apulia face similar problems. Apulia, Campania and Sicily together form the heart of Italy's pasta industry, so the stoppages reach well beyond a single plant.
“This means that most of Italy's pasta production has stopped or is very close to stopping.”
La Molisana, based in the Molise region, said its output had fallen significantly and that it was now drawing on its stocks of raw materials such as wheat and semolina. Italmopa, the Italian association of flour millers, had warned the week before that more and more factories could be forced to halt production if the protests continued, with knock-on effects across the supply chain.
Truck drivers in southern Italy began their protests in mid-October with blockades of roads, motorways and ports in Sicily and other parts of the south. They are protesting the surge in fuel prices and the rising cost of living, and the blockades have kept raw materials from reaching factories. The effects have spread beyond industry. Several areas of southern Italy report gaps on supermarket shelves, and queues have formed at fuel stations. A 78-year-old woman said a petrol station employee had urged her on Monday to fill her tank.
A 45-year-old woman from Locri, in the province of Reggio Calabria, told Reuters that people were trying to buy whatever was left, and that she had driven to a nearby town to buy extra flour and the foods her household uses most. The Centro Agroalimentare Roma (CAR), described as the largest wholesale market for fruit and vegetables in Italy, warned that shortages of tomatoes, peppers and grapes are pushing prices up and increasing reliance on imports, including from Spain and Albania. Confagricoltura, an agricultural organisation, warned that producers in Sicily may have to destroy large quantities of perishable goods unless transport is restored. The pasta supply chain generated revenue of 13.5 billion euros in 2025, according to a September report by European House-Ambrosetti (TEHA Group).
The government has pledged more financial support to road hauliers. After meeting industry representatives on Tuesday, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Edoardo Rixi said a support package worth more than 150 million euros would soon be made available. At the same time, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government is preparing tougher security measures in response to riots over the weekend of 17-18 October in Milan and other northern cities. Those riots broke out during demonstrations against inflation.
Rixi did not give a date for the aid package, which was described only as coming soon. Italmopa's warning about further factory stoppages depends on whether the protests continue. Confagricoltura's warning about destroyed produce depends on whether transport in Sicily is restored. The articles give no date for any of these outcomes.
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Rummo, a pasta maker based in Campania, suspended production on Tuesday, 20 October, after its raw materials ran out. Shortages have also reached supermarkets and fuel stations in parts of southern Italy.
AI text based on reports by Ειδήσεις, H Kαθημερινή, in.gr and other publishers. Published .