The Italian catering industry finds in the extended supply chain the main way to improve performance and results within the Made in Italy industry. A leading role is played by professional equipment
Article by Olivia Rabbi
The extended agrifood supply chain needs a solid and shared common base, enabling the various players – from catering and HoReCa technologies to training – to deploy their strengths and peculiarities on common goals: sustainability and ecological transition in the first place. This approach was the focus of the event “La filiera estesa della ristorazione: un’eccellenza del Made in Italy”, promoted on 16 April by Efcem Italia in collaboration with Unisg – Università di Scienze gastronomiche di Pollenzo, a Unesco heritage hamlet in the municipality of Bra (Cuneo). On the occasion of the National Made in Italy Day, co-ordinated by Mimit (Ministero delle Imprese e del Made in Italy), which saw the launch of over 500 celebrations to highlight Italian manufacturing excellence, the professional appliances and technologies sector proposed a reflection on its strategic role within the catering supply chain with a moment of confrontation between sector experts, academics, operators and institutional representatives; not by chance, in a context of specialised university research and training of international standing.
Supply chain strategies
Introducing the topics at the centre of the debate, which also saw the institutional greeting of Minister Adolfo Urso (Mimit), were Silvio Barbero (Unisg CEO), Giovanni Fogliato (Mayor of Bra) and Milena Orso Giacone (Mimit – Casa del Made in Italy Piemonte-Liguria-Valle d’Aosta).
Benedetta Brioschi, Head of Food&Retail and Sustainability at The European House Ambrosetti, presented the contents of the study drawn up by Teha with Efcem Italia dedicated to the Italian supply chain, which offered the opportunity to trace the increasingly integrated role of the various production sectors with a special focus on professional equipment. The professional equipment sector is confirmed as central to Made in Italy production. The entire supply chain, understood as an ecosystem of interconnected sectors that contribute in a synergic way to the diffusion and prestige of Italian cuisine in the world, has a value that exceeds 120 billion euros in turnover, and involves 392 thousand companies with 1.9 million employees. Italian professional equipment alone is worth over 6 billion euros in turnover, placing the country in fourth place in the world ranking of producers in the sector after China, Germany, and the United States. To promote the growth of the catering supply chain and the various production segments that make it up, the Manifesto della ristorazione Made in Italy has been drawn up and three macro areas of intervention have been identified for the professional equipment sector. The first area is that of Excellent Catering, which aims at enhancing the recognition of the sector as a central element of the Italian nature of the catering supply chain, including it in all Made in Italy promotion initiatives, and the development of communication activities dedicated to Made in Italy to guarantee recognition and authority of professional equipment produced in Italy. The second concerns Quality catering to enhance the skills and role of professional equipment for the protection of health and the promotion of the quality of the final product; the proposal to outline a training plan for hotel schools and sector technicians on technological innovations and, also, an ad hoc plan to promote the use of professional equipment of excellence in school canteens are also part of this area. The third and final area is dedicated to Sustainable Catering, which is sensitive to energy and environmental performance also thanks to the promotion of the use of latest generation technologies with incentives for the replacement of outdated equipment and the certification of high energy standards; an action that extends to the renovation of commercial catering kitchens with the active involvement and collaboration of institutions, manufacturers and associations.
Common paths and goals
Andrea Rossi (President of Efcem Italia), Paolo Corvo (Associate Professor of General Sociology – Unisg), Maurizio Zito (President of the Restaurants Section of Epat-Fipe), Massimo Giubilesi (President of Fcsi Italia and Otall) and Barbara Nappini (President of Slow Food Italia) contributed to the debate on these points. In order to implement the contribution of the enlarged supply chain of Italian catering in the national economy under the Made in Italy sign, it is necessary to bring responsibility and the ability to share common paths and goals, thanks to an integrated approach that enhances the different contributions. This, in brief and with the different declinations of the speakers, is the message that emerges from the work carried out in Pollenzo. Respect for food as a raw material bearer of culture and knowledge of the territory, its history and traditions goes hand in hand with the development and innovation of technologies for its processing, with a strong drive towards sustainability and the containment of waste, both food and energy. And with a broad outlook that extends from cooking to training, to the protection and enhancement of the natural heritage, landscape and biodiversity.
Centrality to training
The event in Pollenzo was an opportunity to underline the value of training and professional skills as a lever to guarantee and strengthen the excellence of Made in Italy.
«Training is a necessary step if we want to strengthen and integrate the skills of operators and therefore of the entire Italian catering supply chain», said Andrea Rossi. «Technological innovation, implemented by Italian companies to reduce energy consumption and waste, requires adequate and constant training plans that are in step with increasingly sustainable, connected and digital products». A vision shared by those who hold the keys to training.
«The world of catering is undergoing profound changes at an organisational and technological level», stressed Paolo Corvo. «Unisg, thanks to the versatility of its research areas, can help companies in the sector to create innovative products tailored to the new needs of restaurants and their customers».
