A few tips to boost Italian food exports
How to translate Italian know-how into competitiveness
"Cibus is a platform to understand and promote the Italian food industry as a whole and to implement a strategic plan for its implementation. If we are able to structure properly the pavilion dedicated to food at Expo 2015, Italian food companies will grow significantly ", stated the Minister of Agricultural Policies Maurizio Martina, while visiting the international food and beverage exhibition this week in Parma.
Here are a few tips to increase exports, provided by Antonio Cellie, CEO of Fiere di Parma (Parma exhibitions) during his speech at the convention organized at Cibus to promote the Made in Italy abroad: first small gesture that has proven to make a significant difference is meeting the foreign buyers directly in the local stores.
An important step is also to focus on the growing Asian markets. Besides Europe and America, which are already established markets, countries like Australia, Japan, China and all South East Asia are more and more appreciating Italian products. Mr. Cellie is already busy co-organizing Beijing food exhibition next November.
Other important tips came from strategic consultant Andrea Petronio, from Bain&Company, who suggested to carefully select the most prominent markets and design customized distribution channels. Choosing between joint ventures or distributing through local dealers would avoid unnecessary costs.
To conclude, a great opportunity for presenting and selling food products is the Internet and e-commerce. In Japan is already active "Shop Italia Mia", a guide to purchase Italian products. Vice Minister of Agriculture, Andrea Olivero announced the creation of an online portal, developed together with Google, where all the doc (certified origin) products will be presented.
Minister Olivero also declared that over the next ten years, Italian food exports could increase from the current ?26 billions to ?70 billions. The focus should be on shifting the perception of Italian food from a niche product to an everyday one.
Follow @castaritaHK
