Assocamerestero – the Association of 78 Italian Chambers of Commerce Abroad (CCIE), Italian and foreign business entities, and Unioncamere – presented the first results of the activity carried out on the “True Italian Taste” Project, almost two years after its launch .
The initiative is part of the "Strategic promotion campaign for the enhancement of the Italian product in relation to the Italian Sounding phenomenon", promoted and financed by the Ministry of Economic Development in collaboration with Ice Agency and is made by Assocamerestero with the support of Italian Chambers of Commerce Abroad.
"True Italian Taste" aims to expand the dissemination and knowledge of authentically Italian agri-food products, with the aim of helping foreign consumers to distinguish them from "Italian Sounding" ones, thus trying to favor an ever better positioning of our companies food and wine, which today are increasingly affected by the phenomenon of international "agro-piracy" which has a turnover of over 60 billion euros.
At the top of the ranking of the most fake products (survey Assocamerestero) are i cheeses with designation of origin Dop starting from Parmigiano Reggiano and from Grana Padano, But also the Provolone Cheese, Gorgonzola, Pecorino Romano,Asiago or the Fontina. Then there are the more prestigious cured meats dal Parma al San Daniele followed by pastas, sauces, baked goods, oils, wines and biscuits.
In more detail, the Campaign started in 2016 on 9 squares in the USA, Canada and Mexico with the CCIEs of Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and Mexico City, which have been added since 2017 12 European markets with the CCIE of Barcelona, Madrid, London, Frankfurt, Monaco, Brussels, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Lyon, Marseille, Nice and Zurich.
The overall numbers of these first 18 months of the Project are important and positive: they have been organized on the Italian territory to date 1.500 B2B meetings with 600 Italian companies e over 65 foreign buyers selected by the CCIE; have been involved in foreign countries 3.000 influencers and over 450 "foodies" – food enthusiasts and experts – in 90 events. The Project has also placed a strong emphasis on the training of foreign salespeople, chefs and agri-food operators with masterclasses that have collected almost 900 participants. A web App dedicated to 100% Made in Italy extra virgin olive oil was also created to support the initiative.
The recipients of the actions were mainly the importers of Italian agri-food products, the distributors abroad, the owners of Italian restaurants abroad of the "Ospitalità Italiana" network, the purchasing managers of hotel chains and specialized shops in the reference areas, the leading chefs and food bloggers from various countries, as well as sector journalists, nutritionists and food testimonials.
In 2018 the Project will provide for these squares again 90 events e 15 masterclasses abroad as well 5 incoming businesses e 2 Educational for influencers in Italy. Furthermore, the project will open from this year also in Asia with the CCIE of China, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Within the "True Italian Taste" project, our certified agri-food products are valued in particular, increasingly sought after for their excellence appreciated all over the world. Italy can count on 818 Geographical Indications registered at European level, almost 15 billion of production value, which translate to 8,4 billion of export value. These products are now worth 11% of the food industry and 28% of national agri-food exports (in 2015 it was 21%).
At the national level, agri-food exports touch for the first time i 41 billion euros in 2017 with a significant increase of 7% compared to last year (Coldiretti elaboration from the projections on an annual basis of the Istat foreign trade data in November).
Almost two thirds of agri-food exports concern the countries of the European Union, where it grows by 5%, albeit with different trends: in Germany, food exports have remained more or less stable (+ 1 %), in France there was a leap of 7% while in Great Britain there was a + 2 %. The United States, with an increase of 6%, are by far the main market for our food outside the borders of the Union and the third in general terms after Germany and France and before Great Britain.
The growth of exports to North America is determined by specific sectors such as the "transformation of vegetables" (+ 18,1 %), the “confectionary” (+ 17,3 %) and the “spirits and liqueurs” sector (+12,8%). The interesting push of a mature market like France is largely due to the performance of the "dairy" (+15,4%) and "confectionery" (+ 17,3 %).
As far as the Asian markets are concerned, where the project will soon land, it is China with an increase of 17% that records a real exploit of opportunities for Made in Italy at the table, together with Japan (+ 39 %).
"True Italian Taste is taking place today in 18 main destinations of our agri-food exports, involving 21 Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad” – commented Prof. Gaetano Fausto Esposito, Secretary General of Assocamerestero. - "For our network it represents an important challenge to connect the business community that we already aggregate with the people of foodies who now represent the world to be sensitized so that the message gets across and translates into greater consumption choices of true Italian food and wine. The many years of experience of the Chambers abroad in this strategic sector of our Made in Italy and the continuous supervision we have of foreign territories are advantages that we offer to SMEs and which make us a strategic partner for exports.”
