(Tiper Stock Exchange) – 600 brands in 12 pavilions for 60,000 square meters of exhibition area: between beers and drinks, street food and gourmet dishes, the eating out market has found itself at Rimini Fair, from yesterday, Sunday 19 February and until Wednesday, for Beer&Food Attraction – The Eating Out Experience Show, crossed this year by a “green motives”.
The 8th edition of the b2b salon of Italian Exhibition Group (IEG ) was inaugurated this morning together with the 5th edition of BB Tech Expo, an exhibition of technologies and raw materials for beers and beverages. They participated in the opening round table Lorenzo Cagnoni, president of the Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), Mattia Morolli, councilor for public works of the Municipality of Rimini, Antonio Portaccio, president of Italgrob, Alfredo Pratolongo, president of Assobirra, Vittorio Ferraris, president of Unionbirrai, Rocco Pozzulo, president of FIC – Italian Federation Cuochi and Aldo Mario Cursano, national vice president of FIPE – Italian Federation of Public Establishments.
“Beer&Food Attraction showcases 600 brands in 12 pavilions for 60,000 square meters of exhibition area – recalled the IEG president Lorenzo Cagnoni – The solid and fruitful collaboration with the ICE Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and with the network of our regional advisors brings 114 buyers from 36 countries to Rimini. Thanks to the presence of the main industrial stakeholders, the professions and the territory, this fair has become the reference point for professionals in the eating out sector”.
“We are proud to kick off the twelfth edition of the International Horeca Meeting, a precious opportunity for companies in the sector and for all stakeholders to meet and discuss – underlined the president of Italgrob Antonio Portaccio – Horeca distribution is a nerve centre, an indispensable driving force for the definitive recovery of the market after the pandemic crisis. It is therefore necessary to focus on the realities that operate in the ‘away from home’ to relaunch the supply chain, favor consumption and promote social relations”.
“A fair, this, which is in the heart of the city – said the councilor for public works of the Municipality of Rimini, Mattia Morolli, who brought the greetings of the Mayor and Giunta -. The experience of drinking and eating is today a great story. Food also means a culture of hospitality, which makes Rimini one of the places on a national and international level where things happen: Rimini has been able to grasp the theme of catering and has become a large open-air kitchen”.
“There is cautious optimism for 2023 – he explained Alfredo Pratolongo , president of Assobirra –. The brewing sector as a whole grew in 2022, especially from the Horeca sector which reached pre-pandemic levels. The internal market grew by 4 percent, a growth linked to the fact that consumers have started going out again, while on the modern trade side we are at around -3 percent. The weather and inflationary pressures will certainly affect the prospects for 2023. We thank the institutions, because there is a slight reduction in excise duties approved, but which has yet to reach the end of the process”.
“The craft beer sector – continued the president of Unionbirrai Victor Ferraris – has the Horeca sector as its marketing outlet, but has undergone a contraction in the last period that in some cases reaches 40 percent. There are signs of regrowth; let’s put in a little more optimism. Although Covid, the energy crisis and then the ongoing conflict have created problems for us not so much in terms of raw materials, which have undergone a relative increase, but for items such as packaging and promotion, in which we are living in an extremely critical moment”.
He focused on the topic of training, which is very much felt in the horeca sector Rocco Pozzulo, president of the Italian Federation of Chefs: «Training is our daily bread, and we want to continue the certification of the chef’s skills. The kitchen, always evolving, makes constant training mandatory. With UNI and other partners we worked on a sort of driving license to drive… a restaurant. Not an easy goal, we also talked about it with FIPE, but certification must be achieved to give serenity to those who sit at the table, which we guarantee healthiness ».
And for FIPE the deputy vice president intervened Aldo Maria Cursano: “The table is hospitality, it is quality of life, it is community – he said – that the whole world envies us. It is a fundamental aspect that identifies our lifestyle and that attracts tourists to our country who come to Italy to live like us Of course, there is no shortage of critical issues: the increase in costs, from rents to energy, risk putting this model in crisis. There is work, but there is a lack of workers. Tax instruments are needed that can help the sector”.
In closing, FIPE announced the day dedicated to catering, which will be held next April 28th. “A moment to share great value through the symbolic product of our cuisine: bread, which thanks to a collaboration with Caritas it will also contribute to giving bread to those who don’t have it”.