Lifestyles and technology. New formats and creativeness. The culture of each sector but also breathtaking challenges between master chefs, show-cooking and world championship events.
Carefully measured ingredients in a world-fusion recipe which is unrivalled in terms of its cosmopolitan flavor, with the ability to integrate perfectly its food core with its technological content: this is HostMilano –the International Hospitality Exhibition, being held this year at the Fieramilano fairground in Rho from Friday23rd to Tuesday27th October, the world’s leading event for the HO.RE.CA., foodservice, retail, large-scale distribution and hotel industries.
A menu which is certainly persuading companies to come, since they are registering so fast that we have nearly run out of space, and a densely-packed exhibition area, 14 pavilions–2 more than in 2013, equivalent to an increase of +12% in terms of the number of square meters occupied.
By the time the exhibition opens, the number is likely to exceed the historic record of 1,900 exhibitors (to date 1,748 have registered), 38% of whom come from abroad. With a unique exhibition concept, organized into three macro-areas comprising similar and related sectors: Food Service Equipment with Bread/Pasta/Pizza; Coffee/Tea, including SIC–the International Coffee Event, Bar/Coffee machines/Vendingand Gelato/Pastry; Furniture and Tableware.
And enlivening the three sectors, a host of increasingly international exhibitors, reflecting the fact that the economy is gradually recovering. In fact, leading the top 5 of the best represented countries, we find markets that are traditionally strong, like Germany (+7.69%) and France (+22.22%), the return in grand style of Spain (+12.7%) and a large increase in the number of companies from the U.S.A. (+22%), thanks partly to the fact that HostMilano has been certified by the Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, including it in the restricted circle of international events where the United States has an official stand. Last in the top five is Switzerland(+25%) and accompanied by strong delegations from the more effervescent economies.
“Host2015is an unrivaled opportunity to provide support for companies in the drive towards internationalization,”commented Corrado Peraboni, Managing Director of Fiera Milano S.p.A.–“Especially for small and medium-sizecompanies, thanks to the synergies of the system, like ICE, the agency for the global promotion and internationalization of Italian businesses, they can use HostMilano as an outlet towards global markets which they would otherwise find difficult to access. Fiera Milano is trying to appraise Italian excellence to strengthen its reputation as a truly global player in the exhibition scenario. HostMilano, which represents many industries where Italy is a world leader, is one of the cutting edges of this strategy. And this is particularly true in the year of EXPO, which is also producing excellent results in terms of B2B.”
In particular, within the framework of the Export Sud project, HostMilano will be supporting the ICE Agency in an incoming mission of about 90 top buyers from dynamic areas like Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark), the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia), Central and Eastern Europe (Germany, Rumania, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary), the U.S.A., Australia and Brazil.
Having been carefully profiled by HostMilano, buyers are figures with decision-making power, such as Heads of Purchasing, CEOs or General Managers. A real opportunity for companies with high export potential to find new foreign outlets, especiallysmall and medium-size companies and companies from the south of Italy, which may not have the resources to employ an export manager or to implement globalized marketing policies.
Themore than1,500 top profiled buyers hail from 60 countries in the 5 continents, once again a balanced mix between traditional and emerging markets. This year they range from large chains to purchasing managers of boutique hotels, hôtels de charme, or design hotels with 5 or 7 stars, with many delegations from the U.S.A., China, Russia andIndia. Thanks to our contact with the ICE Agency, 33 more top buyers from Australia, Canada, Japan and the U.K. have been included in the program. Buyers and companies will be invited to attend pre-arranged business meetings on the stands, thanks to a program that matches the profiles of the demand with the offering.
At least 135 thousand trade professionals from all over the world are expected to attend, along with hundreds of accredited journalists from the international media. Visitors to HostMilano include distributors, dealers, exporters, importers, chefs, restaurateurs, baristas, pastry- and gelato-chefs, retailers, architects, designers, contractors, providers of accommodation and spas.
A good indication of the increasing quality of the internationalization process is the fact that, from this year, HostMilano can also count on support from the Ministry for Economic Development within the framework of the “A special program to promote Italian products and attract foreign investment to Italy”, which distributes extra resources to exhibition projects with particular growth potential in foreign markets with the aim of augmenting the presence of foreign buyers, journalistsand bloggers.
HostMilano has also come up with Bemyhost, a loyalty-building program involving about 20 top international bloggers who have been employed by Host to write about the trends, companies and markets from the countries where they emerge. All the articles of Bemyhost are published in an interesting web magazine, full of new ideas and opportunities, which players in the industry can consult on the exhibition website. Not only that but, in October, the bloggers will be in Milan to visit the exhibition and to attend a high-profile international happening.
In addition to the opportunities for networking, finding out about the most interesting innovations and learning more about the scenarios and the trends of the sector, the exhibition also has a dense calendar of meetings, workshops, seminars, and presentations of data and research –but also demonstrations and competitions –organized in partnership with the most representative trades associations of each industry and the most authoritative international analysts and consultants.
The cultural profile of the event features the return of two important and prestigious awards, created and developed by HostMilano to give a further boost to innovation and creativeness in the sector, in collaboration with POLI.design the Consortium of Milan Polytechnic, with the patronage of ADI – the Italian Industrial Design Association: HOSThinking – A Design Award for the most original, innovative and sustainable formats for hospitality, and Host Smart Label, a special award given to products or services with a high content of innovation that seek to break with and move beyond the established trends in the industry.
This unique combination of winning factors confirms that HostMilano, as well as being a true partner of industrial policy for companies in the sector, is active 365 days a year, especially when it comes to promoting internationalization, as a trendsetter and a privileged observatory on the most advanced trends of professional hospitality. A date not to be missed for anyone in the world whose job involves lifestyles and hospitality.
