There is a new trend in fast food: street food is establishing itself with Ape Piaggio motor carts, trucks, and shops facing the street, becoming a stable presence in the local economic fabric, capable of reaching even small towns, coastal areas, tourist centers, and inland villages. As of March 31, 2026, the Italian municipalities with at least one registered business engaged in an activity related to street food are 1,975, compared to 1,258 in 2016. In ten years, the geography of the sector has thus expanded to include 717 new municipalities, for a perimeter growth of 57%. In the same period, the total number of businesses has almost doubled, rising from 2,271 to 4,286 units (+88.7%). Today, more than one in four Italian municipalities hosts at least one activity in the sector, while ten years ago the phenomenon concerned just over one in six. This is revealed by data from the Business Register processed by Unioncamere and InfoCamere.
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Street food is an alternative mode of catering and has become a business model that has adapted to very different contexts, intercepting new consumption habits, the growth of experiential tourism, and a demand increasingly oriented towards flexible, informal, and local catering formulas. The territorial spread confirms this evolution. The South concentrates almost half of the registered businesses, testifying to the link between street food and growing tourist attractiveness and the enhancement of local gastronomic traditions.
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At the regional level, after Lombardy firmly in the lead with 544 businesses, in 2026 the regions with the highest number of activities are Sicily (514), Apulia (510), Lazio (371), and Campania (361). Among the provinces, behind Milan (256 businesses) are Rome (230), Lecce (192), Turin (170), and Naples (162). Finally, at the municipal level, the crown of street food queen goes to Rome (129 activities), which just barely surpasses Milan (128). Following at a distance are Turin (78), Palermo (48), and Bari (44).
In recent years, the phenomenon has expanded throughout the territory. In fact, 717 municipalities have entered the street food map for the first time in the last decade, a sign of a sector that continues to expand its presence throughout Italy. A widespread entrepreneurship that sees individual businesses in the forefront, the prevailing form with 3,157 registered activities and a share of 73.7% of the total, confirming the strong rooting of small-scale and often family-run initiatives. Alongside this historical component, however, there is a process of progressive structuring of the sector. Capital companies have increased from 105 to 620 units in ten years, registering growth close to 500%. Their incidence on the total number of businesses has risen from 4.6% to 14.5%, highlighting a sector increasingly capable of attracting investments and consolidating its market presence.
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