Market evolution: Catering equipment (CN 841981) — 2015–2025

Introduction

This report analyses the trade evolution of the European Union in catering equipment classified under Combined Nomenclature (CN) 841981, which covers non-domestic machinery for making hot drinks or cooking/heating food. The period under review is 2015–2025. The EU has maintained a strong positive trade balance throughout this period, characterised by sustained export growth and a rising share of production destined for global markets. The analysis reveals a market defined by robust growth in trade value, a strengthening competitive position, and notable divergence in the performance of its key product segments.

1. Sustained Trade Expansion and Strengthening Competitive Position

The EU catering equipment sector demonstrated consistent growth over the decade, with trade value expanding significantly faster than physical volumes, indicating a shift towards higher-value-added products. The bloc’s competitive position strengthened considerably, as evidenced by its trade balance and growing integration into global markets.

The EU’s trade surplus grew substantially, driven by value-added exports.

The EU’s overall trade balance for CN 841981 improved from €772 million in 2015 to over €1.07 billion in 2025, an increase of 38.3%. This growth was primarily fueled by exports, whose value rose by 45.2% to reach €1.81 billion. Import values also grew, increasing by 56.4% to €741 million. A detailed view of the trade overview shows this positive trajectory.

Export growth was led by the United States, while imports from China surged.

The United States became the EU’s most valuable export partner, with shipments increasing by 96.1% to €346 million. Exports to the United Kingdom, another major market, grew by 15.1% to €201 million. On the import side, China’s role expanded dramatically; its value grew by 291.5% to become the leading non-EU import source at €191 million. Meanwhile, traditional suppliers like Switzerland saw their import value decline by 12.2%. The evolution of trade partners can be explored in the top partners by value section.

Unit export prices rose sharply, indicating a move up the value chain.

A key feature of the period is the significant appreciation of EU export prices, which increased by 35.6% to €40,876 per tonne. This contrasts with import prices, which remained essentially flat (-0.3%) at €26,421 per tonne. This dynamic suggests the EU is increasingly specialising in and exporting higher-quality, higher-priced equipment. Italy and Germany, the EU’s largest exporters, were key drivers of this trend.

2. Market Structure: European Specialisation and Growing Import Dependency

Despite the strong export performance, the market structure analysis reveals a deepening trade openness and a growing reliance on imports for the domestic market, even as European production itself expanded and became more specialised.

EU production value more than doubled, highlighting the sector’s industrial significance.

The value of EU production for CN 841981 grew by 121.9% over the period, from €1.22 billion to €2.70 billion. Production quantity also increased by 35.2%, from 1.41 million to 1.91 million items. This substantial growth underpins the sector’s strong export performance. The production volumes data shows this expansion.

Italy and Germany are the core of the EU’s specialised production base.

In 2025, Italy demonstrated the highest revealed comparative advantage (RCA) of 3.52, confirming its position as the most specialised producer within the EU. Italy accounted for 28.2% of EU production value. Germany, with an RCA of 1.46, was the second most specialised and the largest producer by value (31.0% share). This specialisation is evident in the specialisation data.

The EU’s net exporter status intensified, but trade openness increased markedly.

The EU’s net import reliance, a measure of its position as a net exporter, deepened from -43.0% in 2015 to -67.6% in 2025. Concurrently, trade intensity—the sum of imports and exports as a share of production—rose from 47.2% to 72.9%. This indicates that while the EU remained a major net exporter, the sector became much more integrated into global trade flows, with both imports and exports growing relative to its production base. This evolution is tracked in the vulnerability indicators.

3. Segment Divergence: Cooking Equipment vs. Hot Drink Machines

The aggregate growth masks a stark divergence between the two product sub-segments: 84198180 (cooking/heating food machinery) and 84198120 (hot drink percolators). Their trade dynamics in terms of volume, value, and pricing moved in distinctly different directions.

Cooking equipment (84198180) drove import volume growth.

Imports of cooking and heating machinery (84198180) surged by 139% in volume, from 9,309 tonnes to 22,313 tonnes, making it the primary driver of overall import quantity growth. In contrast, imports of percolators (84198120) fell by 33% in volume. The product segment breakdown provides this detailed view.

Export dynamics showed resilience across both segments.

Export volumes for both segments were relatively stable. Cooking equipment exports saw a slight decline of 0.5% in quantity but grew by 34.4% in value, indicating significant price appreciation. Hot drink machine exports grew by 22.5% in volume and 63.6% in value. This price-led value growth reinforces the overall trend of EU exporters moving towards higher-value products. The product segment comparison details these figures.

Price trends highlight a widening performance gap between segments.

The unit value (price) of imported hot drink machines (84198120) nearly doubled (+57.5%), rising from €26,267 to €41,490 per tonne. This is likely driven by a shift towards more sophisticated, higher-priced machines from specialty coffee trends. In contrast, the price of imported cooking equipment (84198180) declined slightly. For exports, prices increased for both segments, but more steeply for hot drink machines (33.5% vs. 35.0%). This price divergence is a critical feature of the market’s evolution.

Conclusion

The EU market for CN 841981 catering equipment experienced robust growth from 2015 to 2025, solidifying its position as a global net exporter. The sector’s expansion was value-driven, with export prices rising significantly, reflecting a focus on higher-quality production. While the EU’s overall trade surplus improved, the sector became more open and trade-intensive, with imports—particularly of cooking equipment from China—growing strongly to meet domestic demand.

The market’s structure is defined by a core of specialised producers, led by Italy and Germany, who supported this export-oriented growth. However, the period also revealed a clear divergence between its two main product segments. The hot drink machine segment showed resilience and a trend towards premiumisation, while the cooking equipment segment saw explosive growth in imports. This dynamic suggests that the EU’s competitive strength is most pronounced in the higher-value hot drink equipment segment, while it increasingly sources standardised cooking machinery from global suppliers. Overall, the sector demonstrates the resilience and adaptability of European high-end manufacturing in a globally integrated market.