From the appeal of authentic Italian food, to the opportunity of Expo and the favorable exchange rate. The goal is to reach a €50 billion turnover from Italian food export by 2020, compared to the current €33 billion. This can count on a number of factors that make the goal less prohibitive. Among which are the potential for large-scale distribution development abroad, although realistically so far it has struggled to compete with the big international retailers, for an obvious matter of size and financial resources. But, during the last few months, the most dynamic Italian player seems able to fill at least part of this gap, relying mainly on the huge demand for products from the Italian industry. Conad will land in China with five stores, a network of vending machines and a wide selection of products purchased through the e-commerce channel. Coop however, has just launched a company dedicated to the promotion of its brand products internationally. It is called Coop Italian Food and aims first of all to make contacts with retailers and distributors, including promoting small suppliers. A new project started in Hong Kong, where Coop has set up a partnership with a local player, creating the company ItalMenu aimed precisely importing and distributing in the retail and trade channels. Other promotional activities have been scheduled in 40 outlets of PARKnSHOP, part of the Hutchison Whampoa chain.
