Discover it at “The Speciality Food Festival” 2022 (Dubai 8 – 10 November)
Italy reached a new record of agrifood products exported by reaching the historical value of 52 bilion euro in 2021. And the trend is there to continue: +21% in the 1st semester 2022.
Bio products represent the most accelerating driver: + 181% export value over the last 10 years; 3.4 bilion euro in the last 12 months.
With these numbers, Italy is back at Speciality Food Festival 2022 edition.
Organized by the Italian Trade Agency with the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Italy Pavilion at the Mena’s leading event for the gourmet and fine food industry will host 56 exhibitors and a rich and tasty programme of activities
Live cooking demonstration will be running until 10th November at the Italan Food Lab, the open kitchen housed inside the Italy Pavillion (Za’ abeel Hall 4). Visitors will learn how to combine the typical Italian ingredients to create the most traditional dishes as well as some innovative ones. They will watch in action professional Italian chefs working in Dubai including Burj Al Arab’s Michelin star Chef Saverio Sbaragli and Giovanni Papi, Chef at the recently awarded with one Michelin Star Ristorante in Burj Khalifa.
The 56 Italian artisanal F&B producers housed in the Italy Pavillon give a full picture of the diversity of the Italian food and bring to the Speciality Food Festival a selection of unique, healthy, sustainable and tasty Italian products, from pasta, oilive oil and balsamic vinegar to creams, spreads, juices, ice cream and bakery items.
Lorenzo Fanara, Ambassador of Italy to the UAE, said: “Italy’s participation to the Speciality Food Festival takes place within the framework of the Week of the Italian Cuisine in the World. With a rich program of initiatives, including cooking shows and live events, we will showcase the many different features that make Italian cuisine so special: tradition, sustainability, conviviality, innovation, and much more.”
Amedeo Scarpa, Italian Trade Commissioner to the UAE, said: “Italian agri-food export to the UAE reached Euro 300 milion in 2021 (+ 16% compared to 2020), out of which almost 200 milion are represented by F&B products which value increased also by +52% in the 1st semester of this year. One of the key driver of this performance is not only the excellent reputation of Italian food acclaimed all over the world for its deliciousness and authenticity, but also the fact that Italy is also the kingdom of organic, bio and certified food products, that customers tend to demand more and more also in the GCC and in the UAE.That’s why, presenting Italy at Speciality Food Festival 2022, we at ITA invented the motto: Sustainability is Sustainab-ITALY !”
Consumers have become increasingly concerned about the environment and are attracted by the healthy nutritional properties, safety assurance and a sustainable approach to environment and communities of bio food products
Organic products accounts for 6% of the overall Italian food export and generated a turnover of Euro 3.4 billion in 2022 (+16% vs 2021). In 10 years, the demand for the Italian Bio agri-food products has increased by +181%, and the Italian land dedicated to organic cultivation increased by 79% now exceeding 2.1 million hectares (17.4% of the country total cultivation area); moreover, Italy is one of the European countries with the highest number of companies involved in the organic sector, over 80,000
Regarding “products certification”, Italy has 842 classifications and holds first place in Europe for recorded and protected food- farming and viticulture products that contribute to 21% of exports in the Italian food-farming industry
Over the last decade Italian agriculture recorded a drop of -32% on the use of phytosanitary products, confirming it as the most sustainable in Europe. The Italian industry with 30 M equivalent tons of CO generated is more virtuous than any other EU countries too.
