Cibus says Expo will see Italian food 'leap forward'

Best of Made in Italy to be showcased at food pavilion

Parma - Next year's World Fair in Milan will provide an opportunity for Italy's food enterprises to make a quality jump, Agriculture Minister Maurizio Martina said at the 2014 Cibus international food trade fair currently underway in Parma. "Cibus is the trade show platform for understanding and promoting the Italian food sector and the strategic project for its development," Martina said.

"If we use the lever provided by Expo 2015 and the 'Federalimentare4Expo' pavilion well, food enterprises will make a big quality jump," he continued in reference to the upcoming Universal Exhibition on the theme 'Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life', which is set to take place in Milan from May 1 to October 31 next year. The food enterprises pavilion at Expo 2015 is being organised by Federalimentare, the association of food enterprises operating under the umbrella of Italy's powerful industrial employers' association Confindustria, in conjunction with Fiere di Parma, which organizes the annual Cibus event. It will host some 500 companies, consortia and institutional organisations representing the best of 'Made in Italy' in the food sector, allowing visitors to discover Italy's agricultural industries and their main players and products, its brands and the entrepreneurs who have created and developed them.

The project contemplates two adjoining three-storey structures extending over a total of 7,000 sqm of exhibition space, located strategically near one of the main entrances to the fair for visitors and sector professionals alike. The interior and exterior décor will tie in with that of the Italy Pavilion, for which the food enterprises pavilion will provide an industrial 'mirror'. There will be nine theme routes involving 3D-image projections, scenery and other interactive elements dedicated to key sectors in the food industry - milk, cheese and derivative products; vegetable preserves; dressings; flour, pasta and pizza; meat; fish; beverages; sweets; herbs and spices - enabling visitors to discover the historical and cultural patrimony of the products and producers involved. The pavilion will also provide a focus for food-sector relations and events, with its two terraces and a multipurpose room seating 1,500 slated to host around 200 meetings, conventions and other initiatives over the course of the six-month World Fair.