Parma Alimentare will spend 3 days in New York promoting the Parma brand in celebration of Parma, Italy’s 2200 years of history as a center of the best of the world’s cuisine. Parma extends a welcome to its Premiere Summer Cocktail Gala.
New York, June 18, 2017 – From the 25th to the 27th of June, with the support of the Municipality of Parma, the Consortium will host 3 different events in the Big Apple: Participation in the Summer Fancy Food Show, a Summer Cocktail Gala at one of NYC’s finest Hotels, and a tasting session at two Barilla restaurants. The goal is to promote the excellence of the Parma region and its food.
For 3 days, from the 25th to the 27th of June, Parma’s food system will be highlighted in New York City by Parma Alimentare, with the support of the Municipality of Parma. The objectives of the showcase in the Big Apple are two-fold: to expand the business opportunities of the companies from the Parma Food Valley in North America – New York represents the most profitable access point to this geographical area – and promote the Parma brand, focusing on the combined excellence of the cuisine and the region.
The event, held from the 25th to the 27th of June, will take place in conjunction with New York’s annual Summer Fancy Food Show, one of the major B2B food events on US soil. The relationship between Parma and the Show has always been strong, attested to by the fact that last May, Phil Kafarakis, President of the Specialty Food Association (the entity promoting the Summer Fancy Food Show) and other delegates, visited the City of the Dukes as guests of Fiere di Parma and Parma Alimentare. The Summer Fancy Food Show can attract more than 25,000 professional attendees, representing the large retail sector, professional kitchens and food industries. More than 50 countries are represented. In New York Parma Alimentare coordinates a collective of four of the major proprietors of our territory: Agugiaro & Figna, Azienda Agricola Coppini Arte Olearia, and Fratelli Galloni e Zarotti.
In addition to the presence at the Show, there are two additional scheduled activities. The first is the Summer Foodie’s Cocktail Gala, hosted at the Hotel Americano on the 26th of June: in the chic neighborhood of Chelsea, its rooftop La Piscine will offer a beautiful view of the Big Apple.
The Summer Cocktail Gala, hosted by Parma Alimentare, with the support of the Municipality of Parma, will present 100 selected American guests – from representatives of the Institutions to buyers and businessmen, as well as press and web influencers, a chance to taste the best cuisine produced in the Parma region. The event will spotlight Agugiaro & Figna, Azienda Agricola Coppini Arte Olearia e Fratelli Galloni, all companies with a presence in the US market that will take advantage of the Summer Fancy Food Show to offer their best American clients a leisurely experience at the Hotel Americano. They will also be joined by Consorzio Tutela del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano, by Barilla and by Cantine Ceci.
Recalling the great musical tradition of Parma, the night will be illuminated by the Soprano Ariadne, who will revisit the classics of Italian Opera with a modern touch and a deejay set feel. To truly recreate the atmosphere of the Parma Valley, during the cocktail hour Ariadne will accompany a tasting of wine and typical products with her amazing voice in a live performance.
The culture of excellency in Parma’s agri-food system combines perfectly with the City of Parma’s role as a cradle for international Opera Music. For this event the masterworks of great composers like Verdi and Puccini, Morricone, Pavarotti and Bocelli, heard in theaters, television and movies, will play as a soundtrack representing a multi-sensual voyage between taste and entertainment in an original, sophisticated, dj-set musical formula.
On the 26th and 27th of June, following the great success of the event held in November of last year, New York’s two Barilla restaurants will host the second edition of a “Taste of Parma in NYC”. When ordering an entrée customers will be offered a taste of food and wine treasures like Parmigiano Reggiano PDO and Prosciutto di Parma PDO (offered by their respective Consortium of Protection), extra virgin olive oil and seafood preserves, presented respectively by Azienda Agricola Coppini Arte Olearia and Delicius Rizzoli.
Cesare Azzali, Sole Director of Parma Alimentare, explains the reasons for the business mission from Parma to the United States: “The USA represents the first market outside of the EU, and the third overall after France and Germany, for food farming exports from Parma. Considering the decade between 2006 and 2016, overseas exports of Made-in-Parma food products almost tripled in their value. In 2016 we registered a rise of 6.5% in respect to 2015, that in turn was a very positive year with a +25% on the year before. In the last 12 months we registered very good performances from traditionally strong sectors like animal preserves (+17,6%) and dairy products (+5,9%), and a sensible growth for beverages (+83,7%) and vegetable and animal oils and fats (+48,7%”).
“The key products remain the PDOs Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma, that, combined, account for about 80% of all food exportations from Parma. Cesare Azzali continues – We’re talking about two champions of Italian BBF. This acronym stands for “Beni Belli e Ben Fatti” (“Well done and good looking goods”): it also stands for food products that sums up qualities of excellency in the raw materials and a sophisticated know-how refined over a long time. According to the 2017 edition of a study from Confindustria and Prometeia titled “Esportare la Dolce Vita” (“Exporting the Dolce Vita”) the USA is one of the main markets for the Italian BFF: this explains the strength of the Parma brand overseas, with its incomparable heritage of PDO and PGI treasures”.
Alessandra Foppiano, Executive manager of Parma Alimentare, will coordinate the activities in New York from the 25th to the 27th of June: “By earning the title of UNESCO “Creative City of Food” the Parma brand has improved it reputation all over the World. We must be effective on capitalizing on this value: hence the decision to invest in the United States. A strategic market for the high purchasing power of its consumers where, thanks to the phenomena of the “Italian Sounding, it’s important to promote the culture of the agri-food excellences from parma, by raising awareness among operators and final customers in relation to the authentic production Made-In-Parma. Aside from our annual participation in the Summer Fancy Food Show, this year we chose to diversify our presence in New York in order to establish a dialogue with different, but equally important, targets, like the professional operators at the Show, the web influencers and press at the Summer Foodie’s Cocktail Gala, and the “foodies” at the tasting sessions at the Barilla Restaurants. The three-days in New York represents an interesting model of cooperation between Institutions and the Business Community: a formula we experimented with for the EXPO Milano 2015 and that we repeat here, in an enhanced way”.