PARMA, Italy – Major international fairs are opening up to the public once again, with Cibus leading the way from 31 August to 3 September in Parma. Europe’s successful vaccination campaigns have made it possible to resume in-person activities where safety and infection-control procedures are in place. In-person fairs are a testing ground for the national economy: the time has come for the agri-food sector to increase production and resume its expansion on foreign markets. Agri-food fairs are platforms for showcasing new products, connecting producers with Italian and foreign buyers and defining market strategies.
Cibus 2021 is no exception and, whilst the fair will certainly maintain its parallel activity of buyer matching by digital means, the value of in-person buyer-seller engagement cannot be denied – an opportunity has been made possible by the Green Pass system, swab tests and anti-COVID measures ensuring the safety of the event.
Almost 2,000 companies will be showcasing their products – 500 of which are new – to the approximately 40,000 participating international operators, thanks also to the incoming plan and collaboration with the Italian Trade Agency (new products will be communicated a week before the start of Cibus on the exhibition site and via the Cibus app).
The Cibus Destination programme will allow top foreign buyers to discover and explore characteristic Italian expertise both at the fair, with special itineraries, and on visits to the production sites themselves.
The presence of agri-food companies and representatives from the distribution industry, government institutions and politics at Cibus all bear witness to the fair’s importance.
The following leading figures will all be speaking at the four-day event: Luigi di Maio, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Stefano Patuanelli, Minister for Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies; Giancarlo Giorgetti, Minister for Economic Development; Carlo Maria Ferro, President of the Italian Trade Agency; and Stefano Bonaccini, President of the Emilia-Romagna Region.
Attendees at the two morning meetings of August 31 will hear from industry representatives including Ivano Vacondio, President of Federalimentare, and Marco Travaglia, Vice President of Centromarca and CEO for the Nestlé Group. The Federalimentare Assembly will take place in the afternoon with the main captains of the Italian food industry in attendance.
Cibus will also be hosting the main representatives of modern distribution: Alberto Frausin, President of FederDistribuzione; Francesco Pugliese, CEO of Conad; Marco Pedroni, President of Coop Italia; Giorgio Santambrogio, CEO of the Végé Group; Francesco Avanzini, General Manager of Conad and others.
Growth strategies and the future of the sector will be the subject of the various conferences at this year’s Cibus. Industry and distribution leaders will discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by multichannel commerce at an opening conference enhanced by more online forms of information sharing and disintermediation than ever before.
A strategic commercial and communicative channel increasingly integrated with physical consumer goods, which have seen growth with the resumption of in-person as well as online purchasing. A scenario has emerged in which one in two Italians usually buys online and the physical-online dichotomy is set to continue diminishing.
Other Cibus conferences include: the Confagricoltura conference on the future of Italian agriculture; a Dolcitalia conference on the prospects of the hospitality and catering sales channel; the Plug and Play Italy “Farm to fork: Food waste and sustainability in Europe” conference; “Recovery Fund and PNRR – Themes and facilitation tools to support the investments of young entrepreneurs”; “World Food Forum: The challenges of climate, digital and social transitions and relative financial resources: The impact on companies”; “Innovate or scale back? What is the road to food sustainability?” (for a complete conference list, see: https://www.cibus.it/convegni-ufficiali-2021/).
Particularly relevant is the conference on geographical indications, which will not only present Italian products but European and international specialities as well: “Made in Italy agri-food and geographical indications. Strategies for driving growth.”
“Ho.Re.Ca.the HUB” is making its Cibus debut this year: an area dedicated to the hospitality and catering sales channels (restaurants, cafes and similar), organised with Dolcitalia, a services provider in food distribution, confectionery, impulse and beverages. In addition to the exhibition area, the Hub will offer food for thought on the challenges that await the hospitality and catering channels. Dolcitalia sales figures showed an increase of 11.6% in June 2021, with sales in cafes up by 62.6% and sales in restaurants up by 43.5%.
In addition, the “Food Innovation Start Up @ Cibus 2021” event will present the most innovative start-ups in the sector. Organised by Unionbirrai, the craft breweries area brings the Birra dell’Anno “Beer of the Year” award to Parma; the off-site event “Cibus Off” will take place in the centre of Parma from 29 August to 5 September. New features of the off-site event include Cibus Off’s collaboration with “Guest Star Night”, the special musical initiative providing a platform for local artists, organising free concerts in unexpected spaces. (see also https://guestarnight.it/).
Once again, Cibus is combating food waste through its partnership with Banco Alimentare. At the end of this fourth edition, exhibitors will have the chance to avoid wasting surplus products by donating them to local individuals and families in difficulty with the help of partner charities of Emilia-Romagna’s food bank foundation Fondazione Banco Alimentare.
To ensure the safety of the Cibus event, visitors and exhibitors must present the EU digital COVID certificate or similar international document, either on their smartphone or in hard copy, in Italian or English. Alternatively, proof of a negative molecular/antigen test, in either Italian or English, performed no earlier than 48 hours prior to the date of entry to the exhibition will also be accepted.
