An outsized structure in plexiglas at the heart of the Arredo e Tavola macro area, this ambitious concept became a reality thanks to the contribution of special project set-up partner Nolostand, a company that brought its expertise to the design and engineering phases, leveraging its ability to create high aesthetic content spaces with a focus on detail.
This container was “dressed” by top companies Alessi, Baxter, Blackberry, Cavicchi, Elmec, Enomatic, Gambero Rosso, Gewiss, I Guzzini, ISG, Indel B, Leading Technologies, Liuni, Nya Nordiska, Oikos Fragrances, Plantronics, Poltrona Frau, Ivano Redaelli, Riva 1920, Sagsa, Slide, Technogym, Thermologica, Unifor, Vetrerie Calvi and Yamaha.
The area hosted a great many initiatives, notably presentation of the first-ever Master Bar and Restaurant Architecture Prize, an event organized by Host and Fiera Milano Spa together with Gambero Rosso and the Università di Roma Tre Faculty of Architecture, in partnership with the Istituto Nazionale di Architettura and industry magazine Art Tribune.
The prize is awarded to Italian works and undergraduate dissertations that offer a “theatrical” interpretation of the catering venue, showcasing engineers and architects who create transformable spaces that can adapt to customer habits and footfall.
The success of Host 2013 is measurable not just in facts and figures but from participant satisfaction and the business results achieved. Below is a summary of comments from the floor:
Exhibitor Nicola Michelon, Director of Customer Experience at Unox: “This is the number one industry event in the world for companies like us who invest 4% to 5% of our turnover in R&D. It is the go-to event for raising the profile of our innovation”.
Exhibitor Barbara Cincotto, Director of Sales Hotel & Restaurant at Sambonet Paderno: “At Host, we saw that Italian demand is holding firm – hardly something we could take for granted. Exports keep on growing, especially to Asia. Not just agents and distributors come to buy from our stand, we also saw end-clients such as hotel chains.”
Among buyers, Kenneth Cheung, Chairman diPalatial Hotels Investment Management (Beijing) Co. (China) says: “We are fitting out two five-star hotels in Canton and Beijing, 330- and 400-room structures. Here at Host I’ve been sourcing everything for these hotels. I am struck by the variety and complementary nature of what’s on offer here, the ability you Italians have of developing creative new solutions by building on your solid tradition.”
Buyer Eleonora Aliyeva, General Director of Elbaro LLC (Azerbaijan), says: “As well as finally meeting many of the companies with which we already were in contact, we met many new firms from Italy, not to mention Germany, France, Poland and elsewhere. On one day we had twenty different meetings!”
Professional visitors included Angela Bäckström from Smörgåsbord (Sweden), who says:“We’re a tableware company, and we are very happy with the supply here.”
Oscar Ribes, Managing Director at Randstech of Barcelona (Spain), says: “We purchased directly from at least four or five of the exhibitors we met with.
We’ve made so many useful contacts here with firms that will become suppliers and partners of ours in future, and we got a very thorough view of the market.Something that struck us in particular is the enormous range of products spanning every area of the market, from low-cost to flagship, catering to every need.”
The next Host is scheduled for 23 to27 October 2015, during the six-month long Universal Exposition in Milan.
Together with Tuttofood, Host has a direct presence on the most attractive markets through Food Hospitality World, the world’s number one food and professional hospitality event. Dates for your diaries: India (Mumbai) 23-25 January 2014; Brazil (São Paulo) 9-11 April 2014; South Africa (Cape Town) 26-28 May 2014; and then India (Bangalore) 12-14 June 2014 and China (Canton) in September 2014.
