Sustainability is the future of wine and agriculture. Made in Italy must be protected through teamwork

At the close of the Slow Wine Fair and Sana Food 2025 festival, together for the first time, with Slow Food, FederBio and Bolognafiere, Gianpiero Calzolari, president of BolognaFiere, Matteo Zoppas, president of Ice, Maria Grazia Mammuccini, president of FederBio, Barbara Nappini, president of Slow Food Italy, and Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister of Agriculture, recapped the message and vision of the Fair. There must be a model for agriculture and winemaking that puts environmental sustainability, soil protection, quality production, creating wealth and, last but not least, the happiness of farmers all on the same level, which is definitely possible, and will chart the course for the future. Italy and Europe are again following this model for agri-food. On the topic of organic, which is not possible to implement everywhere and by everyone, but is a virtuous example of where to aim to produce healthy and high-quality products that must be paid their fair value, because without creating wealth we cannot create equity. The way to do this is promoting Made in Italy, where politics can be divided "right and left", but need to play as a team. Teamwork is important, now, to protect Italian wine, the driving force of all agri-food, as wine consumption - and not abuse, which must be actively opposed - has been called into question, and portrayed as a product that is bad and harmful. Instead, wine is a part of Italian history and a lifestyle that the whole world loves. It protects wine territories, which are often heroic and without wine and vineyards would be abandoned and ruined. Italian quality in the glass and on tables around the world, must be promoted in a joint effort together with companies, institutions and Fairs. More than 1.300 exhibitors from all over Italy and the world (more than 1.000 in wine), participated in the event. Most of the exhibitors were certified organic or in the process of certification, not only to market the organic segment, which is worth more than 10 billion euros between domestic consumption and exports, (and is growing in the out-of-home sector), but also to reconfirm its clear and specific vision of agriculture and viticulture in the future (and where WineNews talked to the main players, with news, audios and videos). The 5th edition of Slow Wine Fair and 2nd edition of Sana Food will be held in February 22-24, 2026. The journey Slow Food began four years ago, has been a success, since there were 400 wineries at the first edition and now there are more than 1.000”, Gianpiero Calzolari, president of BolognaFiere, said, “creating an important venue. Just like the FIVI-Federazione Italiana Vignaioli Indipendenti event in November is important for us, the wine Fair is in a leading position, and it is collaborating with Sana Food, focused on organic for out-of-home, like mass retail has merged into Marca. Of course, there is always room for improvement, but it has been successful”.
Thanks must be extended to ICE, which brought buyers from 13 Countries around the world to Bologna. “It is our mission, as the Government has indicated, and what we are working towards. We would also like to scale down alarmism a bit”, Matteo Zoppas president of ICE, said, “because, yes, there are difficulties, but it is also true that wine is stable. There were concerns in January 2024, however, growth in value over the first 11 months of last year reached more than +5%. Here, at Slow Wine Fair and Sana Food, organic is the niche, and each niche has its own market that we must push. We need to defend Made in Italy agri-food in all its aspects, all together, supporting the Fairs that are the fundamental platforms for promotion activities”.
“This was the first edition of Sana Food and Slow Wine Fair together, and FEDERBIO would like to thank ICE for the great work we are doing together”, Maria Grazia Mammuccini, president of Federbio, said. She then added, “our alliance with Slow Food and BolognaFiere is valuable, as it looks not only at trade, but at a vision for the future of agriculture. Between biodiversity, maintenance of the territory and internal areas, the agricultural model best responds to our concept of "food sovereignty". This model gives strength to small businesses. NOMISMA's study revealed that uniting the territorial origin of the products and the Italian origin of the raw material, to the organic brand, is very strong. We are working with the Government that is carrying forward the plan for organic, and we expect the National brand for organic Made in Italy to be coming soon. This will give us even more strength, demonstrating that environmental, social and economic sustainability will work well together for the future”.
“Minister Lollobrigida participated in the Fair”, Barbara Nappini, president of Slow Food Italy, said, “and as always he showed his support to Slow Food and to our value system. The wineries that are were selected to participate in the Fair are a cultural and identity heritage, not only economic. And, just like Terra Madre, here too, they testified that there is a regenerative, virtuous agriculture that works with nature, and not against nature, that has all around positive effects, and that protects the soil. It is a fundamental agriculture, where small farmers and winemakers are at the center, and make up 80% of the companies, but collect only 20% of the EU resources for the sector. This is a paradox that must be reversed. The tool to support them exists, and it is the CAP (which is being revised for the post-2027 period, ed.), and we want this agriculture - which is the most widespread in Italy, but also the most suitable for promoting Made in Italy and food sovereignty - to be protected. We need happy farmers and winemakers”, Nappini concluded, leaving the closing remarks to Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister of Agriculture, (who WineNews interviewed). “Today, many people want to talk about wine as if it were something negative, and harmful to health, without taking into account the quantities and the context of consumption. When one thinks of wine, one thinks of entrepreneurs, families, stories, defending the environment and the territories, and seeing images like the terraces of heroic agriculture in Liguria, and in other parts of Italy, makes it easier to understand. If, instead, we were to make vineyards disappear from some areas, and not consider wine as a product, everything in those places would collapse. In other words, the person who consumes wine needs to have the correct information, the correct story of what is behind a wine, the territory, the work involved, as well as showing its value through a fair price. We are exporters, so we cannot be in favor of duties and barriers. These issues are being discussed, instead, by two peoples, in this case the European Union and the USA. There are other things, however, that we can manage independently. In this context, today, criminalizing a product on a daily basis, like wine, will do more damage than any duty would do. Not to mention that now it is wine’s turn, next it could be cheese, and as a matter of fact, “Nutriscore" gave foods like Parmigiano Reggiano, considered one of the healthiest foods, the “orange” traffic light, almost maximum risk, because adequate consumption quantities were not taken into account. Instead, I would put”, the Minister said in a provoking manner, “I would put “eat like an Italian and you will be better off than many others”. We have a 3.000-year history and a myriad of cultures have passed through this land, leaving us many positive elements that today are expressed in Made in Italy, which we must be well aware and proud of. Furthermore, it needs to be protected. Italy without Europe cannot go ahead on its own, this is true, but it is also true that Europe without Italy, especially in agri-food, cannot either. We are the model and the guide to follow. Over the past two years we have revised the vision of CAP and agriculture in Europe that considered the farmer an enemy of nature and not its defender. We are in a place where Slow Food and FederBio have confirmed the importance of protecting the environment, which leads to quality and wealth, and without which it is difficult to work on social equity. The organic sector is very important. Its production process often produces better quality, and though costs might be higher, we need to acknowledge its value. Obviously, we will not be focusing only on organic, but this is where we must start to give a clear signal, that is, to produce quality, and not quantity, generating a healthy food system, to reduce health spending. Cutting resources is not the path to follow, rather creating fewer “patients" through healthy eating in a healthy lifestyle. And, this is where Italy is a leader”.