RIMINI, Italy – The 37th edition of SIGEP, the world-level expo dedicated to the artisan confectionery chain, aims at further increasing its international profile, starting from a record figure set at the last edition, when over 38,000 of the 187,000 overall trade visitors to the Rimini expo centre were from abroad.
Over the five days of SIGEP (23-27 January 2016), Rimini Fiera will be visited by buyers accredited on the business meeting platform opened on 10th December, which will remain operational until 20th January.
Delegations are awaited from India, South East Asia, Russia (various regions of the country) and ex CSi Republics (Baltic countries, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan), North African and Mediterranean countries, Latin America and Northern Europe, thanks to the network of Rimini Fiera consultants.
Rimini Fiera business unit manager Patrizia Cecchi comments: ´as well as its acknowledged leadership, the success and attention that SIGEP has met with is due to its unique attention for what product knowledge really represents, which is then transmitted in the events and special projects.
At SIGEP, the companies are key players, but so is in-depth knowledge of the origins of products and raw materials, the highlighting of traditions, quality and trade members´ professionalism. A role that is also cultural and makes SIGEP unique at world level.´
Leading up to SIGEP 2016 there is greater collaboration with ICE, the Agency for the foreign promotion and internationalization of Italian enterprises – in the program for strengthening Italy´s large trade fair events, foreseen by the Italian government´s special plan for the promotion of Made in Italian-made product, which involves 18 ICE offices worldwide.
Business delegations are awaited from Angola, Saudi Arabia, Canada, China, Congo, Korea, Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Japan, Iran, Madagascar, Mozambique, Oman, Qatar, United States, South Africa, Taiwan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
This action will be supported during the expo by the foreign market assistance desk for Canada, USA, China, Korea and Vietnam, as well as for Italian companies interested in exporting and receiving information on customs procedure, on the possibility of opening offices in the aforementioned countries and acquiring market figures from the dossiers that will be published on the SIGEP Web site within 10th January 2016.
On the front promotion front, this international activity that is achieving exceptional results with the Gelato World Tour project, staged by SIGEP and Carpigiani throughout the world. After the dates in Rome, Valencia, Melbourne, Dubai, Austin, Berlin and Rimini, in 2015 dates were held in Singapore and Tokyo, while for 2016 others are scheduled in Chicago in May and California in September.
Another international event is the production of Barista & Farmer, the coffee talent show that will be held in Brazil from May 3rd to 13th 2016 with ten baristas from all over the world, in collaboration with SIGEP and the patronage of the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE).
SIGEP 2016 will also feature the network of relations set up during the world tour staged in recent months on the most receptive markets and which, as well as the worldwide dates of Gelato World Tour project, in coming weeks will involve presentations in Cologne, Tokyo, Monaco, Dubai, Zagreb, Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul.
In this perspective, a draft calendar is has already be drawn up for international activities to be carried out in 2016, which will target in particular the American market in Chicago and Las Vegas (but with dates also in Dubai, Paris, Stuttgart, Moscow, Tokyo, Singapore, Dublin, Shanghai and Seoul).
To facilitate buyers´ arrival, Rimini Fiera ha inked direct agreements with privileged arrival points from the East and USA, with Bologna´s Marconi airport (a shuttle every 20 minutes), and Milan´s Malpensa, including evening links, in order to optimize expo visits from the early hours of the morning.
Following up on this activity to ensure even greater internationality, the exploit of the large competitions, which have had a very high number of qualified applications from every continent, has been so great as to have led the organizers to further extend the number of countries taking part.
As far as the seventh edition of the Gelato World Cup is concerned, 13 teams are officially taking part, a record number for the event, with new entries from Chile, Uruguay and Singapore. Alongside them, there will be: Argentina, Australia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Morocco, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.
All the teams will arrive ready fight it out for the title and, after having passed the selections in their respective countries, will compete on seven tests from 23rd to 25th January in the South Foyer of Rimini Fiera.
Each team will be made up of a gelato maker, a pastry chef, a chef and an ice sculptor and will be led by a team manager, a highly qualified professional who will be a member of the panel of technical judges.
Equally successful, Pastry Queen is the world pastry championship dedicated to woman pastry chefs, with 10 Countries taking part.
Participants will arrive from: Japan, Australia, Taiwan, India, Russia, France, Italy, Brazil, Croatia and the Balkans, with selections being held in the last five, due to the large number of applicants. From now on, selections in the countries of origin will be a fundamental requisite for participation.
The Star of Chocolate contest, reserved for the most qualified chocolatiers, is also assuming an international profile. Participants already registered will arrive from: Japan, Brazil, India, Italy, Austria and France.
For bread baking, Bread in the City (international contest for the bakery world) will feature 8 competing teams: Peru, China, Mali, Italy, Switzerland, France, Japan, and Algeria.
SIGEP 2016 AT A GLANCE
Dates: 23 – 27 January 2016; Organizers: Rimini Fiera spa; Patronages and collaborations: Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, Emilia Romagna Region, Rimini Municipality, ICE Italian Foreign Trade Institute; edition: 37th; frequency: annual; classification: international; admittance: trade members only; hours: 9:30 am . 6:00 pm, last day 9:30 am . 3:00 pm (3:00 . 5:00 pm only with online tickets). Web site: www.sigep.it – #Sigep2016
