Specials

Also this year the largest food fair of the United States, the Fancy Food Show, hosted a delegation from one of its most famous equivalents in Italy and in Europe, Cibus Parma.

The twinning was celebrated on June 29 at Marea Restaurant, an upscale seafood restaurant located near Columbus Circle, on Central Park South. During the cocktail party organized with the collaboration of  the Italian Trade Commission in the person of its director Aniello Musella, those attending could learn more about CIBUS, a fair that is held every year in one of the capitals of Italian food and culinary excellency.

The figures of Cibus Parma talk for themselves and clearly reveal its key role in the growth of Made in Italy at a global level: 15 editions from 1985; thousands of buyer from over 50 countries; an average of 60,000 visitors and 900 journalists attending; about 10,000 products from 2,500 labels being presented... These figures are just indicators of what the fair represent to the national food industry
 

Cibus Parma is also lately consistently boosting Italian exports in the US, thanks to its annual participation to the Fancy Food.

This initiative is framed within a prosperous moment for our products and cuisine in this country, given the growing popularity of the Mediterranean Diet: from being considered "ethnic" and exotic, Italian products  are now looked at as the fruit of a complex erray of rules, regulations, and traditions that ensure not only outstanding quality, but also incomparable taste. Having become part of the avarage American everyday diet, they are conquering ever larger markets and stimulating the interest and curiosity of importers and distributors.

At the presence of Consul General Francesco Maria Talò and Vice Consul Marco Alberti, Cibus manager  Elda Ghiretti and Ceo of Fiere di Parma Antonio Cellie  pointed out how, regardless of the economic crisis, the United States is still today the biggest food market in the world, representing an important draw for Italian products.
 

“The success of Cibus Parma” - they commented - “depends from three factors: the first is that the city of Parma has never renounced to its vocation of being an important  economic center in the food field; the second is that Cibus, starting at the beginning of the 1990s, has become a fair mainly addressed to professionals of the sector, especially to distributors operating first at a national and then at a global level; and finally, the third is that in its last edition the organization of the fair has been entrusted to a group of companies, both small and large, that better understand and know the demands of foreign markets”.

The last editions of Cibus, as Mrs. Ghiretti highlighted, have been richer than ever, thanks also to the foundation of a new branch of the fair in 2008, Dolce Italia, aimed at promoting the sector of national sweets and desserts, that are still not as popular as they should be at an international level.

The evening at Marea Restaurant was also an occasion for Cibus organizers to underline how committed they are to the protection of Made in Italy products against “Italian sounding” fake ones. To this matter, he expressed the hope that, once the economy recovers, there will be more room in the American market for Italian niche products. “We know that times are changing, and it is essential at this moment to find a perfect relation between excellent supplies and increasing market demands. This is why we are reconfirming our presence at the Fancy Food: it's a platform for new partnerships that can constantly evolute and an opportunity to support both the small and large Italian companies that are involved in Cibus in entering  the American market.”
 

Cibus 2012 will be held on May 7-10, as the organizers announced, and will most probably involve a consistently greater number of buyers and professionals in the sector. “Our aim is to have over a million and a half visitors within 2020”, they finally declared.
 

The 16th edition of the fair will be announced by a full range of initiatives that will take place in Parma and throughout Italy, among which the first edition of “Cibus Tour” (April 14-17, 2011), “a journey through savours and cultures”. The event, that will feature the presence of large and small companies grouped in regional pavilions, will be held in Parma in odd years, while Cibus will still be held in equal years.