MILAN, Italy – Today’s news and tomorrow’s trends. In short, the very best on offer from the HoReCa and Retail worlds. If excellence Made in Italy and the talent for innovation have always been paramount at HostMilano (fieramilano, from 18 to 22 October 2019), the event’s role as the place-to-be for the hospitality industry becomes more and more international with every edition.
The proof is in the figures available today, with 50 countries represented, with a total of 1,653 companies, 949 of which Italian (57.41 % of the total) and 704 international (42.59 %), seven months before the kick-off.
US and America among Host’s focus markets
Host is the perfect global equipment hub, focusing on the United States and Canada but on the Americas in general, this being one of the regions with the greatest growth potential in the sector.
Evidence of this potential lies in the presence of US companies at recent editions of the event (+11% in 2017 compared to two years earlier), and in the higher number of visitors arriving from the other side of the Atlantic (8% of the total).
The special link with the American continent is reinforced by the numerous agreements signed with important American trade associations, all with a view to increasing knowledge of the Italian market by US members.
Like the partnership with the FEDA Foodservice Equipment Distributors Association, an organisation which unites 255 distributors capable of generating 75% of the business of the US Ho.Re.Ca supply and vending machine industry. And those entered into with the FCSI – Foodservice Consultants Society International; SEFA, Supply and Equipment Foodservice Alliance; NEWH – The Hospitality Equipment Network; Restaurants Canada; IDC – Interior Designers of Canada; CAMA-ACAD, Canadian Automation Merchandising Association, and ACODRES – Asociación Colombiana de la industria gastronómica.
Ties with the States are consolidated by the certification issued by the U.S. Commercial Service in the last 3 editions and requested again in 2019, making HostMilano the only event in the sector to have received it in Italy, and one of the few at international level.
But the promotion in all five continents of Hostmilano as the place-to-be for professional hospitality takes place also thanks to the exhibition’s presence in all the major US (and other) events, along with the return of the project Be my Host. As always, the aim is to closely monitor what’s going on in the Ho.Re.Ca sector, witnessing the birth of new trends, thanks to ten ambassadors (four of which from across the Atlantic), with in-depth and up-to-date knowledge of this world in their respective countries, ready to talk about it to hoards of followers every day. The ambassadors will be at HostMilano from 18 to 22 October, as guests of Fiera Milano, reporting in real time from the booths and events.
USA: Italian exports are growing, but there’s room for more
By 2021, the international exchanges of Professional equipment for the Ho.Re.Ca channel will be worth more than 31 billion euros. This figure comes from the data in the Ulisse Information System, which shows how the sector continues growing worldwide (exceeding 27 billion euros in 2018), especially in the Premium-price segments.
As far as the export market is concerned, if Italy has confirmed its occupancy of the top spot in the global ranking in the last twelve months, the US market continues to be not only one of the most important in the world, but also one of those with the biggest growth marginsfor commodities Made in Italy.
An example is provided by the events that have taken place in Professional catering machinery, equipment and accessories, in which the United Stated imported goods worth 9.1 billion euros in 2017, only a small percentage (2%) of which were from Italy (with a value of 167 billion euros).
In the last twelve months, however, the US has confirmed its position as the world’s leading country in the Furnishing & Food sector(leadership confirmed by forecasts for 2022, with 24.5% of the market share), despite purchases from Italy (1.9% in 2017) remaining modest, although some growth is taking place in the Furniture, furnishings and home textiles sectors.
Excellent results are coming from the Coffee – Coffee Maker – Vending Machinesector: the United States market’s total imports in the sector were 2.2 billion euros in 2017, with a net majority of this figure coming from High End products and Italian leadership in coffee makers.
Italy’s leadership is also evident in Bread baking machinery and equipment. Here, Italian exports lead the world ranking, with the US being the main export market, and are forecast to increase their lead from now until 2021. In 2017, the US market imported 203 million euros worth of Bread baking machinery and equipment, with over 30% coming from Italy (with a value of 61.4 million euros), all of which in the Premium Price segment.
A menu full of events, with contests, training and SMART Label innovation
Hundreds of events, workshops, presentations of data and research, tastings, training sessions and exciting competitions. Business and networking are important at Hostmilano, but they aren’t everything. While the event menu includes the constant search for tomorrow’s trends, there is a very strong focus on appointments which those who want to be “formed” and “informed” on the non-stop evolution of the Ho.Re.Ca sector really shouldn’t miss.
The Bar Caffè macro area will be hosting the Gran Premio della Caffetteria Italiana and Coffee Addition (organised by Aicaf and ALTOGA); the macro area dedicated to Professional catering will be venue for Restaurant engineering – Evolution of the world of eating out, behind the scenes (organised by APCI – Associazione Professionale Cuochi Italiani), and Chic Respect – High-quality, sustainable catering (organised by CHIC); and last but by no means least, the Food, Furnishing and Technology space will be staging FUTURBAR&Co – Hospitality: back to the futur(ism), organised by Comufficio and Consorzio FIA.
Hospitality and innovation become the pair to celebrate with an absolutely unique award: SMART Label, Host Innovation award, the contest held by Fiera Milano and HostMilano, in partnership with POLI.Design, Consorzio del Politecnico di Milano with the patronage of ADI – Associazione Italiana per il Disegno Industriale.
As in past editions, the level of innovation and the “smartest solutions” will be assessed byan international jury composed of five members, including university professors, professionals and experts with extensive experience in design, hospitality and energy saving.They will have to choose the candidate products, services and projects based on the following criteria: efficient functions of products and services, efficacy of products and ease of use of services, and innovative usability of technologies and benefits for users.
But it doesn’t end there, because, remaining within the scope of the Smart Label project, this year there will also be something new – Design Talks: seven professional seminars providing updates for architects, experts and operators in the tradeoffering a user-centric approach, with a focus on digital transformation.
Updates available at: www.host.fieramilano.it, @HostMilano, #Host2019.
