Dubai: If your idea of Italian food is a double pepperoni pizza, the Italians want to talk to you.
Visitors to the Italian Pavilion at the 8th “Speciality Food Festival”, which opens on Monday in Dubai and runs up to September 20, will have the opportunity to learn how to differentiate between the “original” and non-original Italian pastas, cheeses, sweets, coffee, olive oil and other food items, said Gianpaolo Bruno Italian Trade Commissioner to the UAE, Oman and Pakistan.
The conference is not meant to discuss Americanised food, such as the popular spaghetti and meatballs — but instead seeks to promote how to identify authentic Italian products.
“It is a massive campaign in order to promote a better knowledge, better awareness of Italian agricultural and food production, the tradition behind it, and the high quality standards behind it,” he told Gulf News.
“We want to educate customers [on] what is the real quality, and what is behind Italian-made, made-in-Italy productions,” he said.
Bruno said that fake Italian food products, that “are not truly originated from Italy”, are causing big losses to Italy in turnover and labour.
Information will be provided to increase awareness of two important European seals on Italian products: Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). Both are given after a strict set of regulations.
The Italian pavilion will host more than 26 of Italy’s “elite food producers”. Food production in Italy combines several important elements, ranging from weather and soil, to talent and taste.
“Talent is the strength. Tradition comes from long-standing tradition knowledge passed from one generation [to the next],” he said. “You can’t replicate talent and knowledge.”
Percentage of GDP
Most Italian companies are small and medium-sized businesses, and many of them are family owned.
The food production sector is the second most important industry in Italy after mechanical engineering, and the turnover of the food sector represents 11.3 per cent of the national GDP.
“It involves thousands of companies very specialised in single production phases, and of course hundreds of thousands of workers behind the value chain.”
Italy’s total food exports are estimated at €50 billion (Dh219.3 billion).
“In the UAE, it [was] €371 million worth of exports last year, and we would like to increase it, as there is great potential for the increase,” said Bruno.
The UAE is the biggest market for Italian exports in the Gulf and the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) regions. Also, the UAE is ranked 11th on Italy’s exporting list, ahead of many big countries, namely China.
“For us, it [the UAE] a major priority market,” said Bruno.
Today, there are nearly 300 Italian restaurants across the UAE.
Factbox: Italy wants its cuisine added to World Heritage list, consultant says
Italy started a campaign in June to add its cuisine to the Unesco World Heritage list, an Italian consultant based in Dubai has said.
Speaking to Gulf News on the sidelines of a press conference held at the Italian Trade Agency, in the Embassy of Italy and the Consulate General of Italy last week, Rosario Scarpato said Italian cuisine is “heritage that must be preserved. It is a heritage of restaurants and knowledge.”
“Just imagine what the migrants did in the US, in Australia, in Europe, just imagine in the contemporary world, a city like Tokyo has 1,500 Italian restaurants with Italian names. All of Japan has 2,200 Italians restaurant with Italian names. Today, Japanese chefs are giving good contributions to contemporary Italian cuisines. They do not belong to a nation like Italy; they belong to humanity, to the world.”.
