A thousand brands on display at Cibus, but there is no place for insect flours

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There will be 500 exhibiting companies and a thousand brands, 1,300 top buyers and 20,000 expected visitors, but no crickets or insect meal: «At Cibus Connecting Italy – said the CEO of Fiere di Parma, Antonio Cellie – the only novel foods will be those made with made in Italy pea or lupin flour». The 2023 “light” edition of the international food exhibition will be held in Parma from 29 to 30 March and will focus on the theme of innovation as a driver of the growth of Made in Italy agri-food on foreign markets. Four new areas of the 2023 edition: fruit and vegetables (with the absolute debut among the exhibitors of the fair of Italian producers of fresh fruit and vegetables), semi-finished products for ice cream and pastry, “rich in” and plant-based products.

“Italian food & beverage exports – said the new president of Agenzia Ice, Matteo Zoppas – must aim for even more ambitious goals in 2023, after having touched the threshold of 60 billion euros in 2022”. For the promotion of agri-food abroad, ICE spends over 40 million euros a year, almost a third of the agency’s total expenditure for this type of activity. “Made in Italy abroad is now synonymous with taste and quality – said the president of Federalimentare, Paolo Mascarino – our exports from 2000 to 2022 marked a growth of 300%”.

There is ample room for growth for our companies abroad. «In a year – Cellie recalled – a Swiss citizen spends 177 euros to put Italian food on the table, while in the USA the per capita expenditure is equivalent to 14 euros and in China 0.2 euros. The potential in countries culturally similar to ours is enormous». The CEO of Fiere di Parma also confirmed that the alliance between Cibus and the Milanese Tuttofood trade fair is going ahead according to plan: «Our delegated bodies, the municipal council of Parma, our assembly, the new members will discuss it such as Fiera di Milano, public and private partners. We managers have done our job, we have finalized the dossier, we have built a shared industrial plan, it is now up to the shareholders to express themselves on whether or not to follow up on this proposal». The spotlights are now focused on Monday 6 March, when the municipal council of the city of Parma will make its decision.