MILAN – HostMilano opens its doors on October 20th, and the 40th edition of the leading fair for the Ho.Re.Ca. foodservice, retail and hotel industries can already boast some very positive figures. 2,081 firms are scheduled to take part, 1,255 of them Italian (60.3%) and 826 from 51 foreign countries (39.7%), so it will be bigger than the 2015 edition, to which 2,010 firms came.
“With an increase of 3.5% on the same date in 2015, the figures bring confirmation of the central role played by HostMilano on the international trade fair circuit,” says Simona Greco, head of Art, Fashion, Hospitality & Travel Exhibitions at Fiera Milano, “so we can look forward to a 40th edition that looks set to be another resounding success. Italian and foreign manufacturers do indeed consider HostMilano the perfect marketplace at which to present their technological innovations and the more general new trends in hospitality, which is achieved also thanks to the ongoing scouting Fiera Milano carries out to select top buyers: this year there will be over 1,500 from all continents.”
The international character of the stage that awaits visitors to HostMilano is reinforced by the fact that five countries – Egypt, New Zealand, South Africa, Ukraine and Uganda – will be represented by firms coming to the International Hospitality Exhibition for the first time, while others, like Canada, will be returning after an absence of several years.
Europe, not surprisingly, is the continent with the highest number of firms (71.4%), and the top ten of foreign countries attending is headed by Germany, Spain and France, with the United States, the U.K., Switzerland, Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands and Austria close on their heels.
Professional Catering and Bread-Pizza-Pasta are the largest merchandise sectors, accounting for 43.7% of the total. Coffee and Tea, Bars-Coffee Machines-Vending and Ice Cream-Pastry account for 37.5% of firms, and Furnishings, Technology and Tableware 18.8%.
Exhibitors will be keen to show off their most innovative products, and there is plenty to look forward to this year: ANIMA data suggests that Italian firms have accelerated investments.
That has happened thanks in part to the National Industry 4.0 Plan introduced by the Ministry for Economic Development. It is believed that in 2017 corporate investments will be up by 13.3% overall, with those in food processing equipment possibly up by as much as 16.9% on the previous year.
Professionals in the hospitality and accommodation industry are also investing. As things now stand, in all fields but particularly in Ho.Re.Ca. and technology, it is impossible to do otherwise, if there is to be any hope of future success in attracting sophisticated third-millennium consumers.
For this reason, professional visitors to HostMilano will find everything under one roof, and that is quite unique for trade fairs in Italy and abroad. The fair brings together all the new ideas from basic food ingredients like flour and semi-finished products to machinery, furnishings and tableware. It gives a truly comprehensive overview of where the industry is heading.
Elsewhere, we present some of the product innovations large and small that have been awarded the coveted Smart Label, the green label that demonstrates – at the fair and beyond – a successful blend of technical advancement and a response to the new demands of Ho.Re.Ca. professionals.
These are but drops in the ocean of new ideas being presented at HostMilano from 20 to 24 October: modern solutions to old problems, for customers, and the providers of hotel, bar and restaurant services alike.
