RIMINI – The most eagerly awaited Sigep, the one that kicks off the new era of dolce food service. The era of convergence, as the President of Confcommercio, Carlo Sangalli defined the 44th International Trade Show of Artisan Gelato, Pastry, Bakery and Coffee inaugurated at Rimini Expo Centre. This leading event is being held until Wednesday 25th in conjunction with AB Tech Expo – the International Exhibition of Technologies and Products for Bakery.
But what is the convergence era? It is the new trend, amplified by the possibilities offered by technology, that profoundly changes the relationship between customers and companies.
The experience of a certain product (be it gelato, a trip or a dress) is much broader and more diffuse than it used to be: it starts by gathering information, is achieved in consumption and continues with the feedback that the customer generates. The different planes on which the consumption experience takes place must therefore be coherent in order to offer satisfaction.
And there is plenty of satisfaction among the Sigep halls for an edition with a strong international vocation. More than 1,000 brand exhibitors from 34 countries will be present at the show, occupying all 28 halls and covering over 130,000 square metres of exhibition space.
The statements at Sigep
“Sigep has returned to its ideal timing,” recalled IEG President, Lorenzo Cagnoni at the inauguration ceremony “after two very difficult years for out-of-home consumption. Yet, looking at the data with the spirit of optimism which is a professional obligation for us, today we can say that Italian Dolce has recovered well and is even growing. This new-found confidence in the market coincides, in our opinion, with the regained pleasure of eating out, Italian-style.”
“Sigep is an important piece of the history of our city and the Rimini hospitality industry,” said Rimini Mayor, Jamil Sadegholvaad. “These days at one of the most important international trade shows demonstrate that this area can make an important contribution to the country’s economy. This is also proved by the international level of the exhibitors in attendance.”
“This event is fundamental for our economic activity and is an absolute reference point,” highlighted Emma Petitti, President of the Emilia-Romagna Regional Legislative Assembly. “Our region is also known as the ‘Food Valley’ of Italy and food is synonymous with identity and culture. It is no coincidence that Sigep takes place in Rimini.”
In his speech, the President of Confcommercio, Carlo Sangalli, stressed the importance of the supply chains represented at Sigep: the public establishments and the world of pastry and bakery are worth something like more than 80 billion euros in consumption, employ more than one million people and boast 300,000 companies.
Businesses that are the custodians and interpreters of the products featured at this exhibition: gelato, chocolate, bakery, pastry and coffee, which then translate the product into a service that is literally the engine of Italian tourism.
“To all intents and purposes, trade shows are infrastructures,” Sangalli went on to explain, “that form a bridge between the material and immaterial. Material because, in an era in which business is becoming increasingly virtual in many respects, trade shows remain the physical gates to internationalisation. But they are also immaterial infrastructures: nowadays, they not only present goods and products, but also exhibit another precious asset: the knowledge behind the product and the processing. Sigep allows everyone to enter this world with an all-round experience.”
A thousand new entries among the halls
Numerous new entries are being proposed by the more than one thousand brands on display, just as many are being unveiled to the public at Sigep, where each stand is essentially a gelato parlour, a bakery, a bar or an open-air pastry shop, with stands animated by the great Masters of artisan dolce food products. A super- dolce show, immortalised by the smartphones of visitors from all over the world who will be relaunching Sigep images in five continents.
Curiosity for the spaghetto-Eis of which 40 million portions are consumed every year, a gelato that looks like a plate of pasta with tomato sauce. Countless initiatives linked to sustainability and solidarity gelato such as the ‘suspended gelato’, but also a great deal of attention to materials and solutions to contain energy consumption.
And then gelato galore: from the one that tastes of grandma’s jam tart to the botanical gelato with spa water, and another for dogs and yoghurt for cats. In the coffee area, the first capsule with a degassing valve, but also fresh cheese in a can, or the live production to hunt down the record for making the famous orecchiette pasta from Bari.
