The Italian Professional Cleaning Market: Innovation, Export, and Confidence in the Future

AFIDAMP presents the results of the survey conducted by Cerved on the professional cleaning production and distribution sector, revealing a solid and dynamic landscape, ready to face market challenges with forward-looking strategies and a strong focus on innovation. An industry worth a total of €7 billion.

Milan, July 7, 2025 – AFIDAMP, in collaboration with Cerved, has presented the results of its annual survey on the professional cleaning sector, carried out between April and June 2025. The study provides an overview of the production and distribution segments: an ecosystem that in 2024 was worth approximately 7 billion euros, standing out for its resilience, capacity for innovation, and increasing international openness. Many new insights offer an updated snapshot of the sector, valuable for understanding the evolution of demand and supporting strategic decisions based on concrete data.

The survey was presented by Carmine Iuliano, Marketing Project Manager at Cerved, who illustrated the main dynamics of the sector, which overall shows great maturity and the ability to respond to the challenges of both the national and international markets, countering competition from emerging countries with even higher quality product offerings. The commercial network and marketing prove fundamental to the growth of both the production and distribution segments, as they are key levers for building solid, long-lasting relationships and for providing customers with all the information they need in their work.

The qualitative and quantitative research was conducted through online and telephone interviews with company executives across the country, with greater concentration in Northern Italy.

The Production Market

The overall value of the production market, emerging from the survey of 200 companies, amounted in 2024 to around 4 billion euros, in line with 2023. The Chemicals segment remains the most significant, with approximately 1.5 billion in turnover, followed by Machines with over 1.1 billion. Paper recorded a slight contraction, while Equipment, Fibers and Cloths, and Other Products maintained a stable or slightly positive trend. Exports continue to play a fundamental role, representing about 50% of total turnover. The international vocation is particularly strong in the Machinery segment, with a share of 67%, in Equipment with 57% and Paper with 55%, while the chemical segment remains mainly focused on the domestic market. The main reference market for companies in the sector is Western Europe, followed by Eastern Europe and the Middle East. To serve these markets, companies establish partnerships with local intermediaries and invest in international trade fairs, adapting their offerings to local regulations.

On the strategic and commercial level, there is a renewed central role for sales professionals, who, thanks to their skills and experience, are able to build significant business relationships. Trade fairs and in-person events also play a central role as privileged tools for promoting corporate values. Targeted digital communication is growing, while social networks are losing relevance. In terms of sales, 80% of companies rely on their employees, 70% on agents, while a decline is reported in e-commerce channels, especially third-party platforms. The main clients remain distributors, the preferred channel across all production sectors.

To face market challenges, companies alternate defensive strategies — such as customer loyalty and after-sales service — with offensive actions such as reinvestment of profits and expansion of their product range. The launch of digitalization and internationalization processes is significant. Artificial intelligence has entered the picture with concrete initiatives: already one in four companies began applications in 2024, particularly for supply chain optimization, predictive maintenance, product design, and quality control. As for services offered, pre- and post-sales consultancy remains dominant, followed by training, assistance, and rental. The main target sectors for production are industry, with a significant share in the mechanical engineering sector (60%) and the food sector (57%), as well as horeca and healthcare, which are growing strongly. Green products continue to make a stable contribution to turnover, although the share of companies with revenues exceeding 50% from them has slightly decreased.

It is worth noting that, despite the growing presence of products from emerging countries, half of the companies have not changed their commercial strategies; the rest have focused on innovation, branding, and cost optimization. One in four companies has registered patents in the past five years, evidence of increasing investment in innovation and research.

The Distribution Market

The survey also examined the role and weight of the distribution channel within the entire professional cleaning sector, through interviews with 250 companies. Here too, geographical prevalence is concentrated in the North, but with a more balanced distribution compared to production, including Central and Southern Italy. The offering of distribution companies remains broad and diversified, with a clear predominance of professional cleaning products (90%), followed by equipment (70%), machinery (66%) and rental services (53%).

The total turnover of the distribution segment in 2024 was close to 3 billion euros, with a significant impact from larger, more structured companies: 15% of firms generate over half of total turnover. Chemical products are the most important in terms of average share of revenue, followed by consumables and machinery sales. Here too, the sector shows slight growth compared to 2023, both in volumes and in internal structure. The market served is mainly regional, but the share of companies operating nationally and internationally is increasing. In terms of services, sales consulting absorbs the greatest number of working days per year, followed by maintenance, rental, and training. Internal training activities remain stable: about 75% of companies organize courses, mainly in commercial and technical-operational fields.

Customer bases are strongly rooted: about 70% of clients are long-term. The sectors generating the most value for distributors are professional cleaning companies (growing to 780 million euros), followed by industry (growing to 630 million euros) and horeca (stable at 520 million euros). The share of green products in distribution continues to rise, reaching an average of 14% of turnover.

The most commonly used promotional channels are company websites, social networks and, increasingly, direct contact through sales staff. In terms of sales, direct sales by company employees are growing, especially in larger companies, followed by agents and physical stores. E-commerce is used by 26% of companies, with the greatest impact on chemicals and consumables.

The main difficulties reported are shrinking margins, market fragmentation, and late payments, along with competition from non-specialist channels. On the other hand, strengths are identified in direct relationships with customers, strong territorial presence, and high sector specialization. Growth levers are seen above all in sales and marketing functions, with innovation in machinery also playing an important role.

AFIDAMP highlights that the data collected confirm the resilience and vitality of the Italian professional cleaning sector, thanks to targeted investments, internationalization, and continuous dialogue with the market.

AFIDAMP members have the opportunity to review the recording of the presentation by Cerved and download the full reports of the two surveys by accessing the Forum area of the website. Click HERE to directly access the recording and the links for downloading the reports.