From TuttoFood to TuttoGood

+40.8% visitors at the fifth edition of TuttoFood, the biennial event dedicated to the food industry, organized by Fiera Milano last 3-6 May, alongside a special edition of Venditalia and the opening of EXPO.

The Milan event featured impactful stands (the Sicilian Fiasconaro’s giant sweetbread loaf, to name one) and an abundance of show cooking, confirming the Italian food industry’s knack for effective communication. A perfect example is represented by Alessandro Negrini and Fabio Pisani (chef at the famous Milan restaurant “Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia”), at the LadyBù stand with their Mediterranean risotto and other dishes, to the rejoicing of a cadre of patiently waiting gourmands and enthusiastic homemakers.
There were of course many, many new products launched, packaging always playing a leading role, as demonstrated, for example, in the transparent tub with patented dispenser and QR Code adopted by Pedon for SuperMix! seeds, or in the line of poultry products for restaurants launched by BRF under the Sadia brand, in a charming cubic polylaminate carton that facilitates logistics, consumption and communication on the packaging.
And, “at the end of the fair”, charity to boot. TuttoFood became TuttoGood, giving exhibitors a chance to donate their leftover food to the needy, with the help of Banco Alimentare and Associazione Pane Quotidiano.

… passing through packaging…
Few TuttoFood exhibitors were specialized in packaging solutions, often as part of “group” industry delegations organized by local entities. What few packaging specialists were in attendance, however, brought with them some promising offers and received positive feedback: the dynamic Etichettificio Jolly of Cerreto Guidi (FI) mainly showed off its Termo J line of thermochromic labels and an original process for reproducing text and logos that enables achieving a sort of “filigree” relief effect, evocative and fine; Alfacod, set up in Shop2015 like a supermarket by Consorzio Fia, presented the Primera Flash Label printers for on-demand reproduction of photographic quality color labels; Cartonspecialist proposed a line of single material compostable containers called Biopap for packaging food products from freezer to stove; Proget Sistem, at the fair with many proposals for retail and more, garnered interest and new contacts; Vetreria Etrusca launched a beautiful collection of Biolio jars with designation of origin anti-refilling mouth, with capacities of 250, 500, 750 and 1000ml, made from “Tuscan green” glass, in order to contain and protect the organoleptic properties of the oil; the unfailing Idealplast gave a lesson in imagination and flexibility, presenting various new smart packaging concepts for different food segments.

... and vending
In the spirit of innovation and sustainability, a special edition of Venditalia (Confida) was held, anticipating the next scheduled edition by a year, precisely in order to highlight its synergies with TuttoFood and Expo. The international show of automatic vending saw exhibitors busy with innovative projects, confirming the evolution of the vending machine from a mere product dispensing device to a fully interactive technology, capable of supporting the various channels (cafeterias, automated bars, retail, etc.), that can be “personalized” according to user type. For the occasion, Venditalia designated a space for food sustainability projects. In particular, the Italian vending machine association Confida, which organizes the event, set up a visual journey to illustrate the best practices of sustainable vending.

Numbers of an exposition
TuttoFood hosted 2,838 exhibitors over a surface area of 180 thousand m2 and welcomed 78,493 visitors. The international show is dedicated to the various segments of the food industry: milk & dairy, meat and cold cuts, confectionery, green food, frozen food, ho.re.ca&beverage, cereal based food, fish and multiproducts.
All indicators point to an outstanding increase in attendance: professional visitors increased by 40.8%, foreign visitors (119 countries) by 78.7%, Italians by 25.3%. There were many business matches as well: approximately 2,100 international top buyers selected (433 foreign), representing 7,000 brands, met with exhibitors at 11,790 appointments pre-scheduled online. The most well-represented countries include the USA, Belgium, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, the UK and Spain, but many also arrived from the Middle East, India, China, Brazil, Australia and, finally, Sweden, Lithuania and New Zealand. These are the results obtained thanks to a partnership with ICE Agenzia, as well as the support of sector association partners (Aidepi, Assica, AssoBirra, Mineracqua, Unaprol, Unas, UnionAlimentari).