The next days are going to be very busy ones for us at DESITA, ECOFFEE and showfood. SIGEP – the 33^rd International Exhibition for the Artisan Production of Gelato, Pastry, Confectionery and Bakery – will take place in Rimini from Jan.21^st to 25^th and we will participate meeting our current customers and prospects.

Artisan confectionery is one of the sectors for which Italy is famous worldwide. According to Confartigianato, between January and August 2011, Italian companies in this sector exported products for a value of 224 million euros, with an increase of 8.6% compared to the first eight months of 2010. The country that is fondest of Italian delicacies is France, followed by Germany and Austria. Since the beginning of the year, Italy´s ´cousins´ from the other side of the Alps have bought 50.3 million euros of confectionery (equal to 22.4% Italian exports of this type of product). Italy exported 35.8 million euros of pastry produce t o Germany (15.9% of total exports), whereas exports of confectionery to Austria totalled 16.8 million euros (7.5% of the total).

These results were achieved also thanks to the contribution of SIGEP, the world´s most important artisan confectionery expo, with its 90,000 m2 of exhibition space 850 companies taking part and approximately 20,000 foreign trade visitors over the five days.

The international success is the result of a precise strategy in event organization, with participants from the five continents, in sales communication and advertising and in the widespread network of relations set up through the years. A precise project is dedicated to internationalization activity – Top Buyers from 5 continents – which focuses on the qualified attendance of trade members from nations selected along with the exhibitors. Plus, to schedule effective business meetings before SIGEP, by means of the online Marketplace platform, precise daily agendas of meetings are programmed between Italian and foreign trade members, bringing together supply and demand.

With a view to SIGEP 2012 and to favour the arrival of foreign buyers, Rimini Fiera foreign marketing office concentrated on the so-called BRICST countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Turkey), as well as on the neighbouring nations: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Egypt, Ecuador, Singapore, United States, Malaysia and Qatar.

Further promotional activity was carried out in Morocco, France, Arab Emirates and Canada

Also worth stressing are the numerous contacts made by the Italian Chamber of Commerce for Germany for the promotion of the SIGEP Neo program during SIGEP 2012. The major German Chambers of Commerce and Artisan Business were contacted and several of them expressed interest in divulging Rimini Fiera´s invitation among their ´young´ member companies. Also on behalf of the most important German associations there is willingness to distribute invitations to the sector´s new ´recruits´: many regional bakers associations, such as the Verband des Rheinischen BBckerhandwerks, BBckerinnungsverband Hessen and associations that include large-scale bakeries such as the Verband Deutscher Groobbckereien, just like the Uniteis e.V., whose members are all the ice cream parlours in Germany, have confirmed that they will distribute the program among their members.

Please feel free to contact me normanatdesitadotit if you want to arrange an appointment – our schedule is very busy but we will do our best to get to know you in person.