Bread is the staff of life, so the saying goes, and that’s not just a common cliché. Our ‘daily bread’ is so much more than just a standardised foodstuff now, involving a whole array of new techniques, some from Industry 4.0 but others based on preparation methods from the past, most notably the ‘mother yeast’ of the sourdough starter. But the sector is also influenced by the worldwide street food phenomenon, with preparation methods coming from all kinds of different cultures. Neapolitan pizza is a prime example, but now you can also find on our streets khachapuri, a Georgian yeast bread filled with cheese, babka, a sweet bread-like cake from the Jewish culinary tradition, and the much less exotic baguette, now made to professional standards.

Health concerns are now also leading to the inclusion of probiotics, superfoods and new kinds of flour, often revived from age-old traditions and used in classic recipes.

Bakers now aim to achieve environmental sustainability and the traceability of ingredients, ideally sourced on a “zero miles” basis (or at least from reasonably nearby), as well as ensuring social sustainability, through associations such as the USA’s Bakers Against Racism, or Italy’s ethics-oriented Forno Brisa, which in collaboration with other bread bakers has launched a project for the digitalisation and construction of a collective mill in Abruzzo, through a crowdfunding campaign that has already raised more than three million euros.

Sally Prosser, our HostAmbassador from the UK, talks about a new consumer who is better informed and careful about the origin of ingredients, and about the revival of sourdough starters. The practice has deep roots in India, from where Vernika Awal describes a pizzeria in Mumbai that uses a mother yeast no less than 500 years old to make pizzas based on Neapolitan culture.

On show at the Bakery-Pizza-Pasta area of HostMilano will be everything from basic ingredients to the finished product, from dough-kneading machinery to ovens. It is all about quality and innovation. But there will also be professional development opportunities, competitions and in-depth analysis of related topics, in a busy calendar of events. The next edition of HostMilano will be at fieramilano Rho from 13 to 17 October 2023.