“The second Week of Italian Cuisine in the World is the summary of a process that kicked off from the heritage of Expo 2015 and that is increasingly involving the Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic network abroad as the linchpin in the promotion of the 4 Pillars of Made in Italy products: interior decoration, fashion, automation and the agrofood industry.
With the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World we want to contribute to achieving the Government’s goal of reaching an export volume in this sector of 50 billion euros by 2020. It is an ambitious albeit achievable goal if we consider that on the podium of the agrofood products most sold in the world, 68 are Italian and Italy vaunts 292 Protected Denominations of Origin in the food sector and for the wine sector, 523 controlled designations of origin (DOC), controlled and guaranteed designations of origin (DOCG) and vins de pays (IGT) designations. Furthermore, Italy is second in Europe for field areas with organic farming and is the first in terms of number of companies operating in the sector. This is the grounds for Bloomberg’s ranking that identifies Italians as the healthiest people in the world.”
The statement was made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano, at the presentation of the second Week of Italian Cuisine in the World which took place at Villa Madama today. In addition to Minister Alfano, the event was also attended by Andrea Olivero, Deputy Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (MIPAAF), Dorina Bianchi, the Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, Michele Scannavini, the President of ICE-Agency and Luigi Pio Scordamaglia, President of Federalimentare (Italian food producers’ association).
The theme of this year’s edition, which will take place from 20 to 26 November, is “Cuisine and Quality Wine”. The event envisages over 1,000 initiatives in more than 100 countries, including 200 promotional and marketing events, approximately 150 meetings with chefs, cooking shows, cooking courses and masterclasses, more than 120 conferences, seminars and debates on Italy’s culinary tradition and roughly 170 thematic tasting events and dinners.
The project is part of the Action Plan for the Extraordinary Promotion of Brand Italy launched by the Government in order to enhance the distribution and the marketing of genuine Italian agrofood products, and is in line with the goals of the Strategic Plan for Tourism 2017-2022, which aims to highlight the Italian regions that are less known abroad.
The Week of Italian Cuisine in the World is coordinated by the Working Group established by the Protocol of Understanding for the Promotion of High-Quality Italian Cuisine Abroad, which is chaired by the Foreign Ministry in close cooperation with the MIPAAF. The Week is organised in close teamwork between all the public and private players that represent Italy and Italian cuisine in the world: the Institutions (MISE, MIUR, MIBACT, Regions), the ICE Foreign Trade Agency, ENIT, universities, the chambers of commerce, trade associations, cooking schools, networks of certified Italian restaurants and food and wine businesses and design companies.