E V E N T
41st
BAKERY REVIEW
SIGEP & A.B. TECH EXPO
Rimini Hosts the Key Event for International Sweet Foodservice
Over 200,000 attendees and 33,000 foreign buyers confirm the success of Italian Exhibition Group’s expos
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he 41st edition of A.B. Tech Expo and 6th Exhibition of technology and products for bakery, pastry and confectionery, SIGEP, ended after an extraordinary participation and response from visitors around the world. Over 200,000 professional visitors, 33,000 buyers from 187 countries, led by Spain, Germany and France and also numerous countries from Asia and the Americas, starting with China and the United States made the show one of the leading shows in the world. These are the record figures of Sigep, the International Trade Show of Artisan Gelato, Pastry, Bakery and the Coffee World. Five thematic routes, one for each business sector, interconnecting and integrating into a single platform, and unifying vision of excellence, SIGEP represents and rewards world-class excellence. It introduces new formats, enhances global networking and supports businesses and professionals as they grow and expand. Six key characteristics indicate the future of sweet foodservice: quality, Italian spirit, innovation, expertise, design and passion. A constantly expanding sector and two expos that, each edition has grown from the point of view of both dimensions and exhibitor and visitor quality: The two Italian Exhibition Group expos, inaugurated by the Minister for Cultural Assets, Activities and Tourism Dario Franceschini, began the year confirming their role as a powerful driving force for the development of an industry based on artisan skills and quality and which represents the best of Italy’s confectionery tradition in the world. Sigep and A.B. Tech Expo at the beginning
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of the year further strengthened their role as an unavoidable appointment at which the sector’s trends are defined. This is the place where business, international presence, competitions and professional updating meet. 1,250 exhibitors from over 30 countries concluded business deals and grasped important visions of the sector’s future in the 129,000 square meters of Rimini Expo Centre. And to ensure an additional observation point on sweet food service, this year Vision Plaza was launched: not only a place, but also a think tank, which over the five expo days hosted crowded talk shows at which the sector’s experts shared their vision of how consumers’ habit are changing, what the out-of-home trends are and what innovations will affect the coming year. From this point of view, the Vision Plaza was an appreciated direction-finder on a global market that is continually evolving, in particular at breakfast time. Italy won the 9th Gelato World Cup this year. It was followed on the podium of the Gelato Arena by Japan and Argentina. The Italian team that won the world´s sweetest contest, organised by Sigep and Gelato&Cultura, received unanimous recognition, confirmed by the votes of the trade press jury and artistic jury. In the Italian team gelato maker Eugenio Morrone, pastry chef Massimo Carnio, chef Marco Martinelli and ice sculptor Ciro Chiummo, with team leader Giuseppe Tonon. For Japan, the team was made up of Naoki Matsuo, Kenichi Matsunaga, Kengo Akabame and Hiromi Nishikawa with team leader Kanjiro Mochizuki. Lastly, for Argentina, the team was formed by Mariano Zichert, Pablo Nicolas Renes, Matias
Dragun and Ruben Darre, with team leader Maximiliano Cesar Maccarrone. Each of the 11 teams entered the competition with a contest theme. The winners showed their skill with ´The secrets of the forest´, with the ice sculpture by Ciro Chiummo showing a deer emerging from a bush and a gelato cake with pistachio, raspberry and strawberry and brambles on a brittle base with mascarpone and vanilla flavoured semifreddo. In the slices´ crosssection there was the profile of a cyclamen and a bramble. The gelato cake also won the special Press jury award. Japan achieved second place on the podium with the theme ´Flowers of music´, whereas Argentina chose ´Pirates of the Caribbean´. Sigep and A.B. Tech Expo with support of their clients and partnerships with the major trade associations: Acomag and UIFGruppo Prodotti per Gelato, Consorzio Sipan, Italmopa, Aibi-Assitol, SCA-Specialty Coffee Association and Fipe Confcommercio, has become a major entity in the world.. There is also increasingly close collaboration with the ITA Italian Trade Agency for the activity of incoming trade members and professionals and communication campaigns on the major target markets. IEG’s next appointments for the Food & Beverage supply chain are Beer&Food Attraction and BBTech Expo from 15-18 February 2020 at Rimini Expo Centre, Golositalia from 22-26 February 2020 at Montichiari exhibition centre (Brescia) and Cosmofood from 7-11 November 2020 at Vicenza expo centre. The next edition of SIGEP will be held at Rimini from 16-20 January 2021.
Dec-Jan ’20
