RIMINI, Italy – With 100 flagship brands of Made in Italy production excellence, representing the elite of Italian dolce foodservice art and association stakeholders, and an expected 20,000 visitors, the first edition of SIGEP CHINA, held at the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Centre, took place from 10th to 12th May 2023.
The opening ceremony was also attended by Massimiliano Tremiterra, Trade Commissioner of the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) office in Canton, and Valerio de Parolis, Consul General for Italy in Guangzhou.
IEG China’s Economic Catchment Area
Organised by Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) through IEG China, in a crucial and strategic agreement with Koelnmesse, SIGEP CHINA aims to bring made-in-Italy gelato to the Land of the Dragon.
And it is doing so in Shenzhen, the economic engine of the Greater Bay Area of Guandong – Hong Kong – Macao, a reference point for the entire southern Chinese market, categorised as a “first class” city on a par with Beijing, Shanghai and Canton.
A market of 86 million people, with a GDP that, according to the latest available data, is close to $1,700 billion. This globally competitive business location not only excels in finance and technology but also in tourism and is therefore a formidable development pole also for our country’s artisan dolce foodservice industry.
But that’s not all. According to data from iiMediaResearch, in terms of regions, 46.1% of gelato consumers reside in eastern and southern China, making the Greater Bay Area a particularly attractive location for Italian companies in the sector.
Exhibition
The SIGEP CHINA exhibition route winds its way through raw materials and ingredients, machinery and equipment, packaging and services for five different dolce foodservice sectors: artisan gelato, bakery, pastry, chocolate and coffee. Sectors ready to welcome visitors from the entire out-of-home and distribution chain.
About thirty events among conferences, business matchmaking, demonstrations and competitions were also programmed. The focus was on artisan gelato (the Gelato China Cup took place with the Chinese selection valid for participation in the Gelato World Cup scheduled at Sigep 2024 in Rimini); the world of made in Italy artisan pastry and bakery and the coffee universe.
Dolce Foodservice Art in China and Instagram
And on the subject of dolce foodservice art, according to ValueChina, the trend of cultural gelato has developed in the Land of the Dragon to attract younger people to this product with “Instagrammable” gelato: their shape recalls works of art or historical sites. Cultural creations that are now typical in the marketing strategies of the most famous historical tourist spots in China.
Contemporaneity with Anufood and the Dates for Sigep China 2024
SIGEP CHINA was staged on the same days and in the same location as ANUFOOD China, Southern China’s leading food fair, promoted by Koelnmesse’s well-known Anuga, covering 40,000 square metres.
The dates for SIGEP CHINA 2024 have already been set as 17th to 19th April, once again in Shenzhen.
