Organic food brands should not be afraid of using claims to market their products, as a new study suggests the two concepts are not as incompatible as the industr may fear.

The study, published in Food Quality and Preference, looked at whether consumers are deterred from buying organic foods with health claims ont he packaging because of a general consensus that functional food is derived from technology-based enhancement, so is not „natural”.

In addition consumers may think of functional foods as coming from large multinational companies, meaning they might reject functional food as being a non-natural, technical and less holistic approach to healthiness, says the study.

Read more: www.foodnavigator.com

Rimini, 7th May 2013 – The 35th edition of SIGEP, the International Exhibition of Artisan Ice cream, Confectionery and Bakery production, the world’s leading expo, being held at Rimini Fiera from 18th to 22nd January 2014, was presented today in Milan. Eight months before the expo, over 50% of the exhibition space has been confirmed, a figure that is considerably better that that of the same period twelve months ago.

As the press conference, Rimini Fiera chairman Lorenzo Cagnoni and business unit manager Patrizia Cecchi outlined an innovative strategic perspective, based on the careful analysis of the requirements of trade members, who concentrate the majority of their annual promotion on the expo day.

The core of the new expo concept is Sistema Sigep (SIGEP System), a platform for the internationalization of enterprises in the artisan confectionery trade in all the countries in the world that show signs of interest in what has become one of the symbolic Italian-made products.

In concrete terms, the facility puts a series of services and solutions at clients’ disposal. Training workshop will be organized, as well as forms of assistance and international desks to support the internationalization process.

SIGEP WORLDWIDE

SIGEP has therefore concentrated its investments on the internationality front, to boost the main objective of enterprises’ business development.

Patrizia Cecchi explains, “Investments in promotion have been tripled, thanks to the implementation of our network of collaborators on the five continents. The aim is to ensure unprecedented attendance by international buyers, as well as an even greater participation of foreign visitors, who are currently one out of five.”

A schedule of participation in large world-level events has also been planned, a road show with dates in Lyon, Dubai, Moscow (already staged) and shortly in Hong Kong (to investigate in depth the potential of rich dynamic markets such as those of South East Asia and the ASEAN Area), Melbourne and Las Vegas.

This was the reason for the investment regarding the Gelato World Tour, the travelling event promoting artisan gelato (with the entire chain involved) staged by SIGEP along with Carpigiani, which has just held its inaugural date in Rome.

International relations are spotlighted with Top Buyers from 5 Continents Project. This is a platform in six languages that ensures the opportunity of bringing together supply and demand, which then results, according to a schedule drawn up before the expo, in a program of business meetings between trade members from all over the world.

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: WORLD OF COFFEE AT RIMINI FIERA IN 2014

During the press conference, Chairman Lorenzo Cagnoni officially announced the staging at Rimini Fiera in June 2014 of the World of Coffee. This is the most important travelling international event on coffee, organized in Europe by the SCAE.

In the context of the World of Coffee, there will also be the World Barista Championship, this year being held in Melbourne from May 23rd to 26th. An exceptional acknowledgement, an event that will attract the attention of trade members from all over the world to a competition that highlights participants’ professional skills.

A.B.TECH EXPO

The anticipation to 2015 (17-21 January) of the next edition of A.B.TECH EXPO was confirmed, with the updating of the previously scheduled triennial program. The following edition will be in 2017.

This decision was taken following the satisfaction of bakery trade members, who were able to concretely experience the combination of artisan ingeniousness with the industrial leadership that Italian companies represent along with major European brands, which resulted in them being associated and perfectly integrated.

GREAT EVENTS AT SIGEP 2014

For 2014, SIGEP has decided to create a “Times Square” for artisan confectionery. Like the famous New York location, the area between Halls D7 and B7 will become an enormous crossroads under the banner of internationality and performances by the world’s great masters, a stage with live video streaming coverage, able to be seen worldwide.

The numerous events scheduled include the eagerly awaited Gelato World Cup with 12 nations taking part; the second edition of The Pastry Queen, the ladies world pastry championship, with 12 contestants from all five continents; The Star of Chocolate, the International Chocolate Contest; the Italian Barista Championship; the Italian Junior and Senior Pastry Championships.

More info: www.sigep.it

Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church Daniel and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Daniel Constantin signed a cooperation protocol on promoting the Romanian village.

The aims of the protocol are: informing people living in rural areas of the European funds for the development of agriculture and the Romanian village by means of the National Programme of Rural Development (PNDR), by means of the support given to the campaign 'PNDR Comes to Your Village,' as well as by means of other programmes; promoting the traditional values of the rural community with a view to preserving and developing the spiritual, cultural, educational, social and natural heritage of the Romanian village.

They will also consider organizing meetings, seminars, symposia meant for people living in rural areas and their involvement in cultural and educational projects with a view to preserving Romanian conscience and identity, stimulating young people in rural areas for entrepreneurship and making them aware of the importance of associating and amalgamating plots of land, but also organizing in partnership some activities in order to turn local resources to good account.

Read more: www.agerpres.ro

El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain - Why the Roca brothers rule the world

The logo that represents El Celler de Can Roca is an ‘R’ with a difference. The quirk is that the letter that evokes the family name has three ‘legs’ – each representing one of the three Roca brothers, who have combined their diverse skills to such extraordinary effect. This is a Catalan family restaurant through and through, and yet it is also now the best restaurant in the world.

The Spanish favourite entered the World’s 50 Best list eight years ago and has somewhat stealthily climbed the rankings since. Its relatively low-key rise is reflective of the Rocas’ evolutionary approach and modest outlook. The Rocas grew up steeped in their mother’s restaurant in Girona’s working-class suburb of Taiala. In 1986, elder brothers Joan and Josep opened El Celler de Can Roca alongside the original. In 2007 – with younger sibling Jordi on board – they moved just up the road to the striking purpose-built space that remains their home.

Read more: www.theworlds50best.com

After the publication of Romania’s better-than-expected GDP growth for the first quarter of this year, EU statistics office Eurostat has just released its flash estimate for GDP changes across the EU in Q1 2013. The news isn’t great: GDP contracted by 0.1 percent across the EU 27 and by 0.2 percent in the eurozone, quarter-on-quarter. Romania’s estimate for quarter-on-quarter growth was above expectations, up 0.5 percent. Compared to Q1 2012, Romania recorded 1.3 percent GDP growth in the first three months of this year.

Romania’s results are among the best in Europe; the fourth highest quarterly growth rate in the EU behind only Latvia, Lithuania and Hungary, which posted 1.2 percent, 1.3 percent and 0.7 percent quarterly growth respectively. Year-on-year, Romania ranked third for growth, again behind Latvia and Lithuania, with 5.6 and 4.1 percent year-on-year GDP rises, respectively.

Read more: www.romania-insider.com