Institute for the enhancement of Italian deli meats is to attend the second edition of the Week of the Italian Cuisine in the World till November 26. It is an international event highly supported by the Italian government and the public institutions, chaired by the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture. Japan loves Italian salumi and the figures show it. In the first six months of 2017, exports to Japan showed excellent results: 2,136 tonnes (+ 21.7%) for 20.6 million euros (+ 19%) making it the third non-EU destination market after Switzerland and USA (which comes in the first place). Italian export sales growth in the Japanese market has been driven mainly by cured ham and pancetta. There is a long-standing friendship between us and Japan, that starts from 2000 just after the opening of the Japanese market to Italian salumi. In February and March this year we were here for a promotional campaign that gave us much satisfaction. I’m sure these days will be important and profitable too said Monica Malavasi, Director of the Institute.
The complete program
A series of events have been organized by the Institute – in collaboration with the Italian Embassy in Tokyo and ICE-ITA (Italian Trade Agency) – for the Week of Italian Cuisine in the world. The program has something for everyone: from insider operators to consumers to future generations of young chefs. The program will start tomorrow, on November 22, with Chicco Cerea, just confirmed 3 Michelin stars’ chef of the restaurant Da Vittorio in Brusaporto (Bergamo). He will hold a cooking show presenting some recipes based on Italian salumi at Hattori Nutrition College – one of the largest institutions in the world of hotel training. On Friday, November 24, a soiree will take place at the Italian Embassy in Tokyo for the Italian aperitif, including a SalumiAmo corner. Finally on Sunday, November 26, there will be the Amatrice Day, during which reporter Masakatsu Ikeda will organize a charity event at Community Café Nanatsunoko. About twenty chefs from all over Japan are to prepare dishes that will be donated to people affected by the earthquake in the Amatrice area.