The Pandemic has placed the world of Italian food and wine in front of new challenges. Italian companies must review their strategies and exploit the potential of new technologies and new approaches in planning their operations. The first level Master's Degree in Food and Wine Culture promoted by dat Ca' Foscari Challenge School, the Higher Education School of the Ca' Foscari University of Venice and theItalian Sommelier Association Veneto with the aim of promoting post-Covid Made in Italy excellence
Working according to the principles and techniques of design thinking, in close contact with companies, Twenty-one students will develop business models for eight weeks capable of helping companies in the new food and wine markets. The students will be followed by a team of experts and professors from the university, who will guide them in responding to the innovative challenges launched by partner companies of the training course and representative of the Triveneto agri-food sector. Cipriani Food and Molino Moras also participate in the master together with AIS Veneto.
The challenge that AIS Veneto throws at students is to understand how a wine guide can also become a tourist tool. The starting point is Vinetia – Guida ai vini del Veneto, the association's online portal dedicated to the region's enological excellence, which since 2015 has been a snapshot of the best Veneto wine productions. The idea is that young graduates, with the watchful eyes of those who observe from the outside and with an enthusiasm projected towards the future, can synthesize the natural evolution of driving with an expansion of a tourist nature.
The one dealt with in the master is a topic of great economic importance, as the the food and wine sector is worth 12% of Italy's GDP, with 46 billion in exports in 2020. Furthermore, the crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic is very topical, which the sector has been able to cope with, however accelerating some trends already present in the consumption of food and wine: a massive use of digital in obtaining information and purchase, new forms of conviviality, greater consumer attention to health and sustainability. These new challenges require Italian companies to review their strategies and to exploit the potential of new technologies and new approaches to design.
