MILAN, Italy – All in One, One for All. Every other year, the Bakers’ Arts are showcased at HostMilano, the world’s number one Ho.Re.Ca, Food Service, Retail, Mass Retail and Hotel Industry trade fair.
Between Friday 20 and Tuesday 24 October 2017, manufacturers of raw and semi-processed materials, machinery, and processing and storing accessories and equipment will all be converging on the Bread, Pizza and Pasta area at Fieramilano’s pavilions in Rho.
This complete supply chain overview is situated next to Foodservice Equipment, a decision that leverages the greatest possible value from affinities and cross-pollination between these two synergic – albeit different – sectors.
For example, think how bread is increasingly becoming a star player in restaurant catering, or boutique bakeries, gourmet pizza, and pasta prepared and consumed in retail.
The Fair’s overview of hospitality and foodservice is rounded off by Host’s other two macro-areas: Coffee, Tea with Bar, Coffee machines, Vending, Ice Cream, Pastrymaking and Tableware, Furniture.
A full year before the doors open, our engines are already up and running: fully 1,158 companies have already booked their space.
As a sign of just how international the display floor will be, 42% of these companies are from forty-four different nations, while the remaining 58% represent Made in Italy at the Fair.
Germany is the number one foreign presence, followed by a strong delegation from the USA: thus far, forty companies (compared with twenty-two companies 12 months before the last edition held in 2015).
These impressive numbers are backed up by the presence of top industry companies, including Domino, Imperia & Monferrina, Tagliavini, Belshaw Adamatic Bakery Group, Wiesheu, Mecnosud, Gecoma, Forni Ceky, Alfa Refrattari, Caplain Machines, Schneider, Morello Forni and Zanolli Dr. there will also be plenty of talented and independent small manufacturers to ensure the fullest coverage of trends in the industry.
An Additional Advantage for Participant Companies. As ever, our desire to bring supply and demand together leverages the presence of 1,500 profiled buyers from around the world, assembled by our network of local international agents.
The Bakers’ Arts is an industry buzzing with growth opportunities. For example, in raw materials and flour, the range of products on offer has expanded to include cereals that are an alternative to wheat and gluten-free, and which until recently may only have been known locally (teff or pseudocereals like quinoa and amaranth), along with ancient grains like spelt that have returned to popularity.
Worldwide cereal production is forecast to rise 0.9% this year to 2,566 million tonnes. Consumption in 2016/17 is up 9 million tonnes (2.4% according to FAO data) to a total of around 383 million tonnes. Over half of all output is concentrated in China, India, Russia, the US and France.
Production in Italy, the country that gave the world the gift of pizza and pasta, is down for wheat. Indeed, Farmers’ Association Coldiretti recently issued a proposal to save Italian producers by indicating the origin of raw materials on labels.
Italy remains, however, one of the world’s top manufacturers of processing machines, as is borne out by recent data from ANIMA, Italy’s Federation of Sundry and Miscellaneous Mechanical Manufacturers’ National Associations.
Machines for baked products registered growth in all sectors. For example, pastamakers and extruded foodstuff machines and installations registered growth of 1.6% in 2015, with 0.8% forecast for 2016, and exports up 2.2% and 1.1% (of which 40% to African nations, Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia and Mali).
Confectionary systems registered growth of 3.3% in 2015, expected to rise to 6% in 2016, with exports up 3.5% and 5.1% respectively, for the most part to China, India and the USA.
Machines and ovens for bread, biscuits, pastrymaking and pizza posted growth of 3.7% in 2015 and are expected to follow that up with 3.4% in 2016; the figures for exports are 4.4% and 2.8% respectively.
Lastly, machines and systems for mills, feed mills and storage silos rose in 2015 by 4.2%, with a forecast for 2016 of 2.2% growth; exports in 2015 were up 4.1%, with an expectation of a further 2.5% rise in 2016.
Host 2017 has a special focus on North America and Middle East. The Fair is working to attract high-profile visitors from one of the world’s highest growth potential regions: indeed, North America is a focal area in the Italian government’s Extraordinary Made in Italy Promotion Scheme.
Bearing this in mind, Host has entered into agreements with leading North American trade associations and stakeholders like the FEDA (Foodservice Equipment Distributors Association), which has 255 distributor members who generate 75% of industry turnover in the HoReCa machinery and provision industry – corresponding to turnover of US$11 billion every year; and NEWH (Hospitality Industry Network), a non-profit association with 5,600 members who work in interior design, as architects, in contract furnishings and manufacturing; and last but not least, with Restaurants Canada, that country’s largest leisure-focused trade association with more than 30,000 members (restaurants and bars, catering companies, industrial suppliers and the institutions).
Host guarantees high-quality exhibitors, visitors and events, of which it staged more than 400 last time round, many of international standing. For the Bakers’ Arts alone, Host 2017 is putting on the European Pizza Championship staged by Pizza e Pasta Italiana.
Pastrymakers can look forward to the world finals of the Cake Designers World Championship and the World Trophy of Pastry, Ice Cream and Chocolate, in collaboration with the FIPGC (Federazione Internazionale Pasticceria Gelateria Cioccolateria), with sixteen finalists selected from all four corners of the globe pitting their wits against one another with spectacular creations; this year, the special focus is on coffee and chocolate.
When we say flour, we automatically think of sweet things. Well, the entire confectionery supply chain is on show at the Pastrymaking Area, next to Ice Cream.
Companies with hundreds of years’ of history – major names like Taylor Company, Frigomat, JosĂ© Julio Jordao, Alvena, Anselli, Ugolini, Iceteam 1927 – Gruppo Ali in ice cream and Ciam, Selmi, Scotton, Silikomart, Babbi, Mussana Montapanna, Hans Kratt Maschinenfabrik and Camel in pastrymaking – will all be in attendance.
They will also be showing their wares at the macro-area encompassing Coffee, Tea, Bar, Coffee machines and Vending.
More and more, all of these sectors are coming together and cross-pollinating in a continuous exchange of competencies and ideas. With Catering next door – always Host’s flagship – and starred chefs putting on spectacular show cooking displays, this completes the picture of the ice cream and desserts world as it takes on an increasingly well-defined and strategic role in both restaurants and bars.
Ovens, doughmakers and the latest generation of machines are solidly in the Third Millennium, progeny of the Internet of Things. Now it is possible to communicate with them and programme these machines to relieve chefs, pizzamakers and bakers of the most tiring and repetitive tasks.
Not just an exhibition but a hub for trends and innovation, Host presents the very latest solutions. The most interesting proposals on show will win the much sought-after Smart Label award, dedicated to innovation in professional hospitality and promoted by Host – Fiera Milano, in partnership with POLI.design, a Politecnico di Milano consortium.
Whether it is for the Bakers’ Arts, coffee, catering, bars, furnishings or equipment, Host is the ideal place to go to find out about the latest trends in food, hospitality and retail.
Every two years, Fieramilano’s pavilions open up a whole new world, but in between one edition and the next the organizers never cease to work and improve the Fair through specialevents on the web and social networks, as part of an ongoing dialogue with professionals keen every day to explore their world and seize the latest business opportunities.