Italian food, the world’s most popular cuisine, is looking to seduce a larger share of consumers in the United States by showcasing the best quality and innovative products at the Winter Fancy Food Show (WFFS). Italy represents the largest foreign pavilion at the WFFS 2019, the largest specialty food industry event on the West Coast, which takes place in San Francisco from January 13 to 15. In the presence of the Italian ambassador to the United States, Armando Varricchio, the Specialty Food Association and the Italian Trade Agency, 52 exhibitors from all regions of Italy unveiled new natural, ready to eat specialty products for all retail and foodservice channels. Buyers, distributors and manufacturers crowded the Italy Pavilion, covering a surface of 7,400 square feet under the banner ‘The Extraordinary Italian Taste’. The Italy Pavilion was organized by Universal Marketing, the exclusive partner for Italy of the Specialty Food Association for the Fancy Food Shows (including the summer edition, scheduled for June in New York).
ITALIAN FOOD EXPORTS BOOMING
“The Italian food sector is synonymous with excellence. This is confirmed by the success of Italy’s participation in the 2019 Winter Fancy Food show in San Francisco. Quality, tradition, passion and innovation have allowed Italy and its companies to beat the fiercest competition and conquer increasingly wide segments of the market in the U.S. This considerable success in recent years has given even greater prestige to Made in Italy products in the United States,” said the ambassador of Italy Varricchio. “The year 2019 will be truly significant for the Italian system in the United States of America,” said Maurizio Forte, Director of the ICE Agency in New York and Coordinator of the USA network. In the first 10 months of 2018, according to the data published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, overall Italian exports in the food and beverage sector reached 4.274 billion USD with a change of 9.5% compared to the same period in the previous year, according to the Italian Trade Agency. Italy has confirmed its leadership position in olive oil, pasta, cheeses, balsamic vinegar and mineral waters.
NEW RECORDS FOR WINTER FANCY FOOD SHOW IN 2019
“We have achieved a record number of members for this year’s Winter Fancy Food,” said Phil Kafarakis, President of the Specialty Food Association, the show’s owner and producer. “The huge popularity of the Mediterranean diet,” Kafarakis continues, “and its great success with consumers encourages all Italian producers to show their new products and be ready to do business at this year’s Winter Fancy Food Show 2019! At the modern, luxurious and completely renovated building in the Moscone Convention Center, we are also very pleased,” concludes Kafarakis “to offer important events for education and networking.” “Year after year we work to improve the presence of Italian companies in the Italy Pavilion,” declared Donato Cinelli, CEO of Universal Marketing, the exclusive Italian agent of the Specialty Food Association. “We’ve reviewed the whole design of the stands, we’ve improved the logistics and infrastructure of the workstations and we’ve made the spaces more suited to networking and daily work,” Cinelli said. “In 2019 we will continue to work,” Cinelli continues, “to create more and more opportunities for deals for the Italian companies that, with our help, arrive in the U.S. to promote their products. Like Universal Marketing, Cinelli concludes, “we are very proud to be an integral part of this process for the development, integration and growth of Italian companies in the United States of America”.
