(Finance) – The Italian Pavilion was inaugurated today at the 49th edition of Foodex Japan, the most important Asian event dedicated to agri-food and drinks, scheduled from 5 to 8 March at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition centre. The Italian participation confirms itself as the most massive in numerical terms 187 companies were present10% more than the 2023 edition, and in terms of surface area, with over 3000 m2 of exhibition space.
In Japan Italian agri-food exports reached in 2023 beyond 934 million euros with growing demand for canned tomatoes (+22.1%), pasta (+18.4%) and cheeses (+14.9%).
The Minister of Agriculture spoke at the opening ceremony Francesco Lollobrigidathe Ambassador of Italy Gianluigi Benedetti and the President of the ICE Agency Matteo Zoppastogether with representatives of the associations and companies exhibiting at Foodex Japan 2024.
“Italy, with over 220 companies of which 187 brought by ICE, is the country with the largest representation of companies at Foodex Japan; testimony to the great interest in Made in Italy agri-food on the occasion of the main non-profit sector fair only for the Japanese market but for the entire Far East”, he declared Matteo ZoppasPresident of the ICE Agency, adding “the Italian Pavilion promotes the candidacy of Cucina Italia for UNESCO intangible heritage as an element of narration of the quality of our food and the excellent productions of Italian companies; demonstrating the ability to create a system and the diplomacy of growth that focuses heavily on agri-food, also possible thanks to the promotional activities and initiatives implemented by ICE”.
The Italian participation in Foodex Japan 2024 is the opportunity for support the candidacy of Italian Cuisine UNESCO intangible cultural heritagelaunched in March 2023 by ministers Lollobrigida and Sangiuliano, which aims to recognize not only typical Italian recipes and dishes, but also the social practices, rituals and gestures that characterize the preparation and consumption of food in Italy as moments of sharing and meeting.