Returning to fieramilano from the 22nd to the 26th of October, TUTTOFOOD proves to be the most international agri-food exhibition on the national stage, bringing Italian excellence together with the most exciting range of offers from abroad. If Italian exports are about to exceed the historic threshold of €50 billion this year, it is an overall exchange that represents a great business opportunity, even with imports which, pre-pandemic, exceeded €30 billion, generating work and revenue for a vast network of Italian companies including importers, distributors and representatives. We’ve heard from some of these businesses, which stress how important the role of TUTTOFOOD is in raising product awareness, which may sometimes be niche, but they are of great commercial interest and not only on the Italian market.

“I was one of the founders of UNAS, so the value of participating in TUTTOFOOD has always been clear to me”, comments Daniele Pavesi, Italian Director for Lutosa, a Belgian company specialising in high-quality potato-based products. “It is, without a doubt, the best trade fair for meeting existing and potential customers in our two main channels, private label and HoReCa. For the latter, an additional value could also come from HostMilano being held concurrently. Of the innovative products we’re bringing, sweet potatoes and pre-salted starchy potatoes stand out”.

But interest and participation are not from Europe alone and are not just in the more mainstream products, as demonstrated by Pietro Recchia, General Manager for Italy for Peruvian company Viru: “We specialise in avocados, a fast-growing niche. This year several food fairs will be held within a short space of time, but we chose TUTTOFOOD. Our customers prefer it, not just because of its organisation and logistics, but also because Milan always offers so much stimulus for the industry. Some of the innovative products we’re bringing include frozen breaded avocado patties, an ideal veggie option”.

For Mirko Donzella of Meat and More, representing food specialities such as Beck's German pork, what’s important is being at TUTTOFOOD. “To seize opportunities offered by recovery, we’ll mostly be presenting value-adding products at TUTTOFOOD, such as the bacon line, and high service content products, such as ready meals. In fact, we haven't seen much change in customer demand across our product lines and we’re continuing to focus on value. What we expect from being at TUTTOFOOD is, above all, visibility. Being an exhibitor at TUTTOFOOD will definitely help our business evolve”.