It was a gathering of professionals, business people, and manufacturers in the hospitality industry during autumn in Milan, Italy at the biennial International Exhibition of the Hospitality Industry or its acronym, HOST. Held at the capital’s main exhibition center of Fiera Milano in Rho, the wave of visitors over 5 days was an indication that the hospitality industry is able to withstand the global trend of a slowing economic climate. Visitors to HOST increased more than 7% compared to 2011 with 133,000 attendees in total from 162 countries while international attendees jumped 21%. In terms of participation, there were 350 new entries amongst the total of 1,700 exhibitors from 48 countries, of which 559 were international companies. Across the 101,000 sqm of exhibition space, visitors were introduced to Italian-made brands, United Kingdom (33%), the Netherlands (28%), Spain (19%), the United States (17%), Germany (13%) and France (10%) including countries such as Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Hungary, Taiwan, Venezuela and Vietnam. Fiera Milano also created an Expo Matching Program software that aims to create an international network, making it available for buyers to maximise opportunities for business meetings with exhibitors and professionals.
“In an economy where the ‘domestic’ market is the entire world,” remarked Michele Perini, President of Fiera Milano Spa, “the future of the exhibition system lies in internationalisation. Our strategy is to bring them into the world, both to meet the professionals where our business is growing fastest, while also motivating them to learn about Italy ‘on site’, reinforcing the role of Milan as an exhibition hub. As a result, since it represents many segments where Italian industry is leading the world, Host is a key industry event.”
The vast exhibition space meant that it was important for each segment to be properly structured for the ease of visitors. This was optimised in 3 macro-areas that were Professional Catering with Bread-Pasta-Pizza; Bar and Coffee Makers with Coffee-Tea and Ice Cream and Pastry, followed by Décor and Dining. Interaction was given a larger focus, as expressed through more than 400 engagements that included seminars, workshops, tastings, show-cooking, shows and competitions, making HOST a platform for innovation and creativity in the Ho.Re.
Ca and Retail lines. Among the many events, one of the pivotal one was the Host Smart Label that was seen at numerous equipment; a recognition of innovative ideas that merge function, technology, eco-sustainability and ethical and social responsibility in the products. Drawing tremendous response, there were 172 applications that represented product sectors like coffee and tea, bar and coffee machines, commercial kitchen equipment, restaurant furnishings, tableware and food.
One of the most important organisations in the hospitality industry, Foodservice Consultants Society International (FCSI) facilitated seminars that covered areas such as social media, new markets and event planning to enhance partnerships between clients, consultants,
eco-sustainability and the green economy. The FIC (Federazione Italiana Cuochi) ran 4 highly technical haute cuisine contests workshops and on behalf of WACS (World Association of Chefs` Societies), FIC held the continental semi-finals of the Global Chef Challenge and the Hans Bueschkens Junior Challenger included pastry for the first time: Global Pastry Chefs.
The Extraordinariamente Host comprised of five sectors joining forces for one event covering 5 days of live lessons with professionals. Partnering the APCI (Association of Professional Italian Cooks) and Italian Gourmet, the event is a way to offer new ideas of variations and fusions of contemporary cuisine according to its food segments through cooking demonstrations. The 5 segments were Extraordinariamente Pane (bread), Extraordinariamente Gelato, skills of preparing exotic items at Extraordinariamente Cucina, dessert specialists at Extraordinariamente Dolce and Italy’s most popular food closing the Extraordinariamente Host with Extraordinariamente Pizza.
5 days of excitement and enlightening activities cemented HOST as the world’s foremost exhibition for the hospitality industry and the next edition is slated to be held in October 2015 in conjunction with the World Expo in Milan. For more information, visit www.host.fieramilano.it or contact:
Flaviana Facchini (Public Relations)
Tel: +39 339 6401271
Email: flavianafacchini@gmail.com
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