SIGEP DAILY NEWS-1 Tuesday 21st January 2025

ASSOTURISMO: IN 2024, FOREIGN TOURISTS SPENT ONE BILLION EUROS ON ARTISAN GELATO

In 2024, about 88 million foreign visitors consumed gelato in Italy's top ten cities of art for a total expenditure on artisan gelato of 1 billion euros. These were the estimates released today by Assoturismo Confesercenti during the conference entitled Beyond Taste, Gelato as an Ambassador of Italian Tourism, staged at SIGEP World, ongoing at Rimini Expo Centre until tomorrow and organised by Italian Exhibition Group. Interest in tours and experiences related to the production and tasting of artisan gelato is also on the rise: 1.5 million tourists took part in guided tours of gelato parlours and platforms such as GetYourGuide offered around 250 themed experiences. There is also interest in experimenting with new flavours with advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, although the core principle of respect for tradition still remains. Vittorio Messina, president of Assoturismo Confesercenti, said: «Foreign visitors see artisan gelato as a typicality and excellence of Italian gastronomy, synonymous with quality, creativity and authenticity. A veritable driving force for discovering typical products from every part of Italy, gelato is increasingly included in itineraries and tours.»

COFFEE AND BARTENDING: THE BEST ITALIAN BARISTAS ANNOUNCED AT SIGEP WORLD 

27-year-old Andrea Batacchi from Florence is the winner of the Italian Brewers Cup 2025 Championship. Standing on the second and third step of the podium were Gabriele Pezzaioli, 26, from Brescia, and Luana Lazzarone, 30, from Turin. The competition was staged at SIGEP World. The “brewers cup” preparation method requires competitors to dispense coffee using manual “pourover” methods, or rather, using filtration systems in which hot water is poured over the coffee powder, which is retained by a filter. The participants, who prepared three drinks for each of the three judges, tried not only to obtain good coffee but also to prepare it correctly with the judges measuring solids value using a “refractometer”. The championship is valid for the WBC (World Brewers Cup).

As for the CIGS - Italian Coffee in Good Spirits Championship, also staged at SIGEP World, the gold medal went to 44-year-old Andrea Villa from Lesmo (MB). Second and third places went to Marco Poidomani, 49, from Modica (RG), and Luigi Cippone, 35, from Bari. Coffee in Good Spirits is a discipline that combines the worlds of coffee and bartending to create classic or fancy drinks. The competitors had 10 minutes to prepare two Irish coffees and two hot or cold cocktails, based on hot coffee and spirits. The championship is valid for the WCIGS (World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship).

THE ‘SWEET ENDING’ MAKES ITS WAY INTO NEW PIZZERIA TRENDS

The pizza world is evolving and with it also the habits of customers, especially in terms of the ‘sweet ending’. And so, 50 Top Pizzas explored the topic at SIGEP World in a seminar moderated by Barbara Guerra, Luciano Pignataro and Albert Sapere, involving pizza chefs such as Isaac Aliaga, Lollo Vuoturni, Francesco Calò, Massimiliano Prete, Pier Daniele Seu, Salvatore Lioniello, Errico Porzio, Fabrizio Polacco, Francesco Pompilio and Lorenzo Sirabella. Thanks to well-developed doughs and quality ingredients, sweet pizzas, initially seen as curiosities, are now much-loved by the public. The post-Covid era has accelerated innovation, urging pizzerias to diversify with artisan products such as panettone and gelato. This change has made new proposals a distinctive trademark for many sector companies.

THE FIGURE OF THE PASTRY CHEF IN STAR-AWARDED RESTAURANTS

The importance of dessert (and of the pastry chef), especially in star-awarded restaurants, the use of increasingly less animal fats in the preparation of desserts and an abundant debate on young talent. These were just some of the issues discussed at the conference entitled ‘The evolution of dessert in haute cuisine: pastry as a driver of success’ staged at SIGEP World. A prominent panel consisted of star-awarded chefs such as Pino Cuttaia (La Madia, Agrigento), Nino Di Costanzo (Danì Maison, Ischia) and master pastry chefs of the calibre of Antonio Bachour, Giuseppe Amato, Tommaso Foglia, Cesare Murzilli, Fabrizio Fiorani, Angelo Musa and Livia Chiriotti, editorial director of Pasticceria Internazionale.

FOCUS ON SIGEP 2025

Dates: 18-22 January 2025; Organization: Italian Exhibition Group SpA; edition: 46^th; frequency: annual; event: international trade show; entry: trade only info: www.sigep.it

PRESS CONTACT SIGEP ITALIAN EXHIBITION GROUP

head of media relation & corporate communication: Elisabetta Vitali; press office manager: Marco Forcellini, Pierfrancesco Bellini; press office specialist: Mirko Malgieri

international press office coordinator: Silvia Giorgi; media@iegexpo.it

MEDIA AGENCY SIGEP: Mind The Pop

Martina Vacca: martina@mindthepop.it, mob. +39 339 748 4994; Fabrizio Raimondi: fabrizio@mindthepop.it, mob. +39 335 389 848; Benedetto Colli: benedetto@mindthepop.it, mob. 380 371 2272; Stefano Chiossi: stefano@mindthepop.it, mob. + 39 388 739 4358.

This press release contains forecast elements and estimates that reflect the management´s current opinions (´forward-looking statements´), particularly regarding future management performance, realization of investments, cash flow trends and the evolution of the financial structure. For their very nature, forward-looking statements have a component of risk and uncertainty, as they depend on the occurrence of future events. The effective results may differ (even significantly) from those announced, due to numerous factors, including, only by way of example: food service market and tourist flow trends in Italy, gold and jewellery market trends, green economy market trends; the evolution of raw material prices; general macroeconomic conditions; geopolitical factors and evolutions in the legislative framework. Moreover, the information contained in this release, does not claim to be complete, and has not been verified by independent third parties. Forecasts, estimates and objectives contained herein are based on the information available to the Company as at the date of this release.