Working as a team “with and for” the country, developing activities and information and promotion initiatives to disseminate knowledge and improve awareness among consumers and tradespeople of the quality inherent in Italian products. This is the aim of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Fiera Milano, Italy’s leading trade fair organisation (and one of the best in the world) and the Ambasciatori del Gusto, an association that brings together all the professional categories involved in high-quality Italian Cuisine.

The agreement was presented, in the presence of the mayor of Milan Beppe Sala, by Luca Palermo, who is the CEO of Fiera Milano, and by the Ambasciatori del Gusto, “ambassadors” Gianluca De Cristofaro, Carlo Cracco and Viviana Varese.

“We have a duty to promote our trade fairs, which are centres of excellence for food, hospitality, tourism and art, also through this agreement with the Italian Ambasciatori del Gusto Association,” said Luca Palermo, CEO and general manager of Fiera Milano. “We want to raise awareness about all the ‘good and beautiful’ things we in Italy have to offer through system synergies. With the Ambasciatori del Gusto we want to display all the various aspects of the Italian spirit, through food, promoting the culture during the actual days on which the fairs are held, because that is the most important moment when companies and organisations from all over the world come together.”

“The entire Country System inevitably involves its quality cuisine, whose centuries-old cultural identity now needs to be narrated and presented in a new way. Only in this way can we restore the intrinsic value – economic, social and cultural – it undoubtedly represents, giving concrete form to a new circular economy model that will be implemented also and especially at a local level,” said Gianluca De Cristofaro, the technical and scientific head of Ambasciatori del Gusto.

“From restaurant chefs to master pizza or pastry makers, we all share the same aim: to bring out the excellence and uniqueness of what we do so well in Italy, to ensure that what we do is duly recognised and appreciated for its quality. Together with Fiera Milano and other institutions we really can generate a virtuous circle that gives new strength to the whole country, gives young people opportunities to grow, and offers new prospects to all those who, now more than ever, have to reinvent themselves,” said ‘Taste Ambassador’ Viviana Varese, in conclusion.

Italian exports, which in 2021 exceeded pre-pandemic levels, are expected to reach a value of 500 billion euros by 2023, up 24% on 2020.