· Due to be held face-to-face and in full safety at fieramilano from October 22nd to 26th, 2021

· The programme features over 800 events, divided into the exhibition's three macro areas

· The SMART Label - Host Innovation Award, granted to companies who show the greatest innovation, has already reached 79 entries

· Iginio Massari’s “Luxury Confectionery around the World” is coming back with some of the most influential voices of the dessert industry

Milan, 10 July 2021. An unmissable opportunity for networking and coming together to celebrate the entire Ho.re.ca. industry's comeback. This major event for global leaders in professional hospitality is taking place face-to-face and totally safe at HostMilano (at fieramilano, from October 22nd to 26th, 2021). With over 1000 exhibitors confirmed already hailing from 40 different countries, plus countless buyers, stakeholders and associations from major international markets, this is the global equipment hub where participants sample a varied menu of events. From techno-cooking and performances to national and international competitions featuring the greatest chefs, coffee professionals and ice-cream masters, chocolatiers and bakers, there are over 800 events on the programme, divided into the exhibition’s three macro-areas (Professional Catering, Bakery, Pizza, Pasta; Coffee, Tea, Bar, Coffee Machines, Vending, Ice Cream, Pastry; Furniture, Technology, Table) plus all the support you need to guide you to the out-of-your-house world to come.

From Smart Label to Iginio Massari, Host has a few aces up its sleeve

Once again, four unmissable events will make HostMilano the place where all the different branches of hospitality come together, not just to do business, but to train and get up to date on the best case histories and latest trends.  There’s a place of honour reserved on the programme for the great showcase that is the SMART Label - Host Innovation Award, a recognition that has now become an international staple for anything to do with innovation. Organised by Fiera Milano and HostMilano in collaboration with the POLI.Design Consortium of the Polytechnic University of Milan and sponsored by ADI, the Italian Industrial Design Association, more than 79 contestants have entered the competition already.. A jury of lecturers from the Polytechnic University of Milan and experts in the design, architecture and hospitality industry, including the Maestro Massari himself, will select products/services/projects deemed most “sensational” in terms of utility, technology, sustainability, ethics or social implications. 

Collaborating once more with POLI.Design, the 42nd edition of HostMilano will welcome back Digital Talks, a series of insightful seminars aimed at architects and industry experts seeking opportunities to get up-to-date professionally. These discussions will focus on highly topical issues such as using big data, analysing new urban scenarios, the evolving concept of luxury, and applications made possible by new technologies.

On the pastry front, after its roaring success two years ago, “Luxury Confectionery Around the World” is coming back to Rho Fiera’s pavilions. The concept developed by the international and Italian pastry maestro, Iginio Massari, pairs up some of the biggest names in the world of sweets from all over the globe and calls on them to discuss the latest trends in high-end pastry.

Coffee & Bar: the must-see events for your diary

Competitions and unique attractions to pique the interest of amateurs and experts alike are also on the agenda in the Coffee Section. The latest news concerns the agreement reached with the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), the association that represents thousands of coffee professionals, from producers to baristas from all over the world, to hold during the five days of the event the top event in the coffee segment: the world coffee SCA 2021 Championships - World Barista Championship, World Brewers Cup and World Cup Tasters Championship.

A partnership that marks the return of coffee at HostMilano, where the entire sector will be celebrating its relaunch. ALTOGA, the National Association of Coffee Roasters, Importers and Wholesalers, will then organise the subsequent events through the 7th Grand Prix of Italian Coffee, organised by the Italian Coffee Masters’ Academy, AICAF. The programme will feature the greatest aspiring Italian baristas competing against one another, contending with the latest concoctions all themed around the food and wine tradition of Italy. Meanwhile, the 2nd Italian Latte Art Grading Championship will be seeking out the greatest milk producers of the Bel Paese. The winners will then be given the chance to compete in the second edition of the World Latte Art Grading System Battle where there’s a prize up for grabs for the barista with the most precise ‘hand’ when it comes to patterns, under the competition regulations. The Coffee programme is rounded off with Coffee Addition - The itinerary event and coffee tasting corner, organised by AICAF and ALTOGA. An event touring the exhibition’s pavilions which, this year, will benefit from the innovative flair of Gianni Cocco, set to discover new recipes based on coffee, chocolate, cocoa, spices and other regional ingredients.

The Art of Baking revealed with the Panettone World Championship

Promoting an appreciation for the traditional artisan panettone through an international contest, that raises awareness on the importance of the quality, value and uniqueness of a traditional cake made without any chemical additives. Returning to Host2021 of its second edition, the Panettone World Championship is organised by the Academy of Italian Panettone and Sourdough Masters, which celebrates Italy’s most famous leavened product worldwide: the traditional artisan panettone. Four foreign representatives and thirty Italian ones will qualify, making a total of 35 panettone cakes for the semi-final on October 22nd at ALMA - The International School of Italian Cuisine, in Parma. Of these, only 20 will get into the final, taking place on Sunday the 24th of October at HostMilano 2021. 

More must-see events in the Bread, Pizza and Pasta macro sector include the initiative of the Association of Bakers of Milan and the Milan Confcommercio Provinces, the stars behind the Bakery Academy. The Milan Bakers Association will play its part by creating the best filled sandwich, with an approach that encompasses tradition, health and sustainability, benefiting from the support of students from the Bakery Schools of Lombardy. Show-cooking and tastings will also animate the stand hosted by the pasta makers members of A.P.Pa.Fre. - Association of Small/Medium Fresh Pasta Producers that will present their products during the five days of the event.

Pizza e Pasta Italiana will instead present a new format: Slices - Pizza Culture for professionals.

Seminars, show-cooking and debates to be tasted and shared: "Slices" of organizational culture and processing techniques dedicated to pizza professionals.

Restaurant: spotlight on digital

A survey on digital innovation in the restaurant sector. A trend that can no longer be ignored, even though 55% of restaurants still don't use apps or ordering software, only 34% have adopted warehouse management software and only 31% are using e-invoicing tools. These are just some of the statistics due to be released at Host2021 in the Ristorazione 4.0 presentation, an exclusive Observatory organised by FIPE, the Italian Federation of Public Enterprises, on digitalisation in the sector.

A series of seminars on the future of Hospitality, organised by two of the industry's most well-renowned associations, the Foodservice Consultants Society International (FCSI) and the Professional Association of Italian Chefs (APCI), will also shed some light on the sector. It starts with vast menu of events, including presentations, workshops and round tables for non-stop discussions on the future of Hospitality and continues with the HORECA Digital Academy, a training course that engages each and every member of the hospitality industry, with both theory and practice, to train the restaurateurs of today and tomorrow.

Right in the beating heart of the exhibition, the Food-Technology Lounge will provide a vital space for learning, meeting and training. A showcase of Made in Italy technology for food and Hospitality made available by the associations of ANIMA Confindustria Meccanica Varia including Aqua Italia, Assofoodtec, FIAC, UIDA and EFCEM Italia, alongside the ICIM Group and Eurovent.

The international competitions organised by FIPGC, the International Pastry, Gelato, Chocolate and Confectionery Federation, and its president Roberto Lestani, are also highly anticipated. At the forefront, there's the World Tiramisu Championship, with 24 competitors from all five continents taking part. Then we have FIPGC’s new concept, the International Pastry Award, consisting of 4 prizes and several challenges, which will crown the top pastry chefs in the competition.

The "sweetest" programme of the event will be closed by Art Gallery, with the showcase of more than 200 works and live activities by Italian and international pastry chefs; and by the event The best Pastry chef in the World, with the presence of the FIPGC’s excellence teams including 18 World Champions who will parade sharing their views on the future of pastry at international level.

The second edition of Contest School will also be coming back to HostMilano, an initiative aimed at Professional Institutes in the Service sector, specifically food, wine and hotelier services, sponsored by FIPGC in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.