“Vinitaly Special Edition”: the “holy” alliance between wine and catering, with Fipe / Confcommercio

Catering is one of the sectors that the pandemic hit the hardest and because of its forced close downs, also adversely affected the wine market (particularly the high-end and many small and medium-sized producers). However, caterers and restaurants in Italy and all over the world are more and more determined to be the driving force of the wine trade as well. The wine and catering worlds have always been closely linked, and will now meet, in a very special way, at “Vinitaly Special Edition”, the extraordinary three-day Veronafiere event reserved for wine businesses, scheduled from October 17th to 19th in Verona. It will definitely put the spotlight on the Italian market and has also organized a strategic collaboration with FIPE (Italian Federation of Public Enterprises).
The calendar of events, set up by Fipe / Confcommercio, which represents over 300.000 companies all over the country in a sector that counts over 1 million employees and an added value of 46 billion euros, has scheduled a day of specific initiatives and walkaround tastings for restaurateurs and workers in the entertainment and tourism sectors, on October 19th. The central focus will be to enhance and stimulate the synergies between the wine and catering worlds. The initiative will allow the professionals in the HORECA (hotel, restaurant, catering) sector - the driving force of the recovery and the number one outlet channel of Made in Italy wines, with a share equal to 36% in domestic sales, for a value of over 2 billion euros (data: Unione Italiana Vini - UIV 2019) - to discover, deepen their knowledge and taste the best wines as well as getting new proposals from the production sector.

“Catering and the wine industry are definitely two of the main players in the Italian agro-food chain“, commented Matteo Musacci, vice president of Fipe / Confcommercio, ”One needs the other. On one hand, public businesses have to focus on the offer of quality wines to be more attractive, while, on the other, wineries find a fundamental outlet in bars and restaurants to bring their own products to the market. This is especially true for the high-end wines, which were penalized the most during the period when premises were closed due to the pandemic. The collaboration between Vinitaly and Fipe / Confcommercio is fundamental to enhance the food and wine offer in this crucial moment of resuming activities and consumption. Furthermore, an equally important issue has arisen, protecting Made in Italy products from the dangers generated by Italian Sounding. The latter is a threat to typical products that are often counterfeited or clumsily imitated, as in the recent case of Croatian Prosek. Unfortunately, Italian cuisine is also being attacked more and more, through a dense network of fake Italian restaurants that have nothing in common with the authenticity of Italian recipes and products. Uniting in a common front serves to defend not only our excellent products, but also the cuisine and lifestyle that characterize us throughout the world”.