All eyes on desserts: the Pastry and Gelato area at HostMilano, at fieramilano from 13 to 17 October 2023, will certainly get mouths watering but it will also provide an in-depth glimpse of the market, through events of great importance. They include an appearance by master pastry chef Iginio Massari, with the third edition of Luxury Pastry around the World. We asked him to tell us about his relationship with the International Hospitality Exhibition. “We share the same idea of being on a journey: on the one hand there is the event at which exhibitor companies present food technologies, and on the other there is me, a great believer in them and one who promotes their use. The trade fair is a place where you get a very clear idea how your world is doing, it displays the very latest technology and enables you to programme the purchase of machinery and equipment you wouldn’t otherwise know existed.”

Can you say something about the event?

People from all over the world – half Italian half foreign – will present their idea of what a dessert should be, the machines they use and the ones they’d like to buy, and will describe to the audience the success they have had.

What are we to expect of Host2023?

It will reflect new ideas on food preparation from around the world, and I think that having this information will put an end to many of our uncertainties and set us on the road to a brighter future, some aspects of which we are still to discover. HostMilano will paint a picture of the direction in which dining is heading and the part pastry, chocolate and gelato will play in the world of food.

How do you see the future?

We live in a fast-moving world that is changing all the time and this makes it hard to imagine with any clarity what the future of pastry and cuisine in general will be. So while we must guard against misrepresentations there are some basic principles and trends that the world’s leading professionals will talk about, illustrating them with their own experiences.

Host is an international event. How important is it to be international today?

With all the high-speed transport we now have, the world has shrunk and today it is extremely important to be international. The problem is that there is no shared procedure for learning the basics, and it will probably be up to trade fairs to create a common language regarding communication, how to find the financial resources and how to overcome resistance to new ideas. The message I want to get across at the fair is: there always need to be machines and behind those machines there has to be a thinking mind, because that added creativity makes all the difference.

Has innovation changed the way the business works?

Yes, because today you can be competitive with the whole world, and because it offers state-of-the-art technology.

Have there been any innovations in the last 30 years that have revolutionised working methods?

There have been many, from coffee-making machines and gelato makers to cream cookers and chocolate tempering machines, but also in terms of the ingredients themselves, for example flour has changed beyond recognition. The world is racing ahead. If you cling to the past you’ll get left behind.