Innovation Trends

  2018 saw a 71% increase in wine followers on Instagram. Such result – recorded by Omnicom Pr Group Italia by surveying the top-25 Italian wine makers in terms of income (source: Mediobanca) – highlights how Instagram is the most active social network in the wine world: 17 of the 25 companies – as opposed to 15 in 2018 – have an official page. While Facebook is the main network in terms of the number of profiles – 21 of 25 companies – Instagram is on the rise in terms of users. YouTube and Twitter – on the other hand…

  St. Isaac’s Square, St. Petersburg: a baroque construction towers before the statue of Czar Alexander II. This building hosts the institute dedicated to Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov (1887-1943), one of the most remarkable personalities in modern science. A geneticist, botanist, and agronomist, Vavilov was one of the most brilliant minds in the first half of the 1900s. He conducted numerous studies concerning the origin of cultivated plants and collected an enormous quantity of seeds, all meticulously classified and recorded at the Institute of Applied Botany, currently named after him: the Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry. One can say that…

  Despite it has existed for over a century, a large number of consumers are still somewhat sceptical towards frozen food. It is a common belief that fresh products are of a higher quality, and especially that they have more vitamins and nutrients compared to those exposed to temperatures lower than -18°C (-0.4°F). In reality, a number of scientific reports have proven that there are no significant differences between fresh and frozen vegetables and fruit, and even hint that a number of greens are stored better when frozen. Most fruits and vegetables have a water content between 70 and 90%,…

  The risotto culture had birth in Italy in the mid-19th century. In Northern Italy, to be specific: Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna. After nearly 170 years, the risotto is one of the most representative dishes of our country around the world, hand in hand with pasta and pizza.   Italian grandmothers and great-grandmothers, as well as traditional recipe books, passed on the custom to start its preparation by browning onion in butter and olive oil, add rice, sizzle it and simmer it with white wine, and at last gradually add the warm stock. Christian Costardi, a young chef who…

  At a time when the food production industry is going from strength to strength in Italy (it accounted for 11.3% of the country’s GDP in 2016, second only to the steel industry), it is now time for operators to consolidate this positive trend by applying the principles of innovation on products and processes. Deloitte, one of the most prestigious corporate consultancy firms in the world, has dedicated a book entitled Il Settore Alimentare: l’Innovazione nei Paradigmi (‘The Food Industry: Innovating Models’) to the exemplary cases driving such innovation. The innovation that Deloitte proposes is not just technology or product…

  More than any other Made in Italy speciality, food & beverage is the one that most attracts international enogastronomy dealers and tourists to visit the places of production. Many wine cellars and agricultural business are already prepared, while others are organising themselves, for what is considered an important strategic incentive in their relationship with the public. The marketing of hospitality is a vital point of growth for Italian food & beverage producers, especially from the value point of view. Some real opportunities for “experience” have been created: visits to the agricultural company, products tastings, all organised to reveal the…

  If it's not an art, it's not far short either. Photographing food is becoming increasingly important for those who work in the food industry: producers, traders, caterers and food bloggers. What could have more impact than an image when promoting one's products? Some turn to professional photographers, others do it themselves, but it's the finer details that always make the difference. Here is some practical advice for beginners.   1-Your subject A camera lens emphasizes every single imperfection so you need to make sure the dish you want to photograph is absolutely perfect.   2-Framing the shot Your distance…

Today food production and distribution systems are becoming more interdependent. In order to reduce food waste and to maintain a proper value chain that ranges from production to consumption, technologically advanced traceability is required. (more…)

Italy is the largest producer of tomatoes within AMITOM, l’Association Méditerranéenne internationale de la Tomate qui regroupe les organisations professionnelles de transformateurs de tomates du pourtour méditerranéen. (more…)

From the beginning of human settlement, the need to preserve food and limit food spoilage was essential for survival. Since then, many household methods of food preservation, such as the addition of spices and fermentation, have evolved. In today’s modern commercial food production, spoilage and contamination are preserved by a variety of methods. (more…)

Behind climate change and the economic policy placed on the importance of environmental issues, sustainability is a perpetual challenge and agroforestry is one of the best tools we currently have at hand. Agroforestry plays a key role in helping the world adopt sustainable agriculture and contrast climate change. (more…)

Natural food scarcity paired with the fact that the planet’s population continues to grow has engineers and bioscientists trying to discover new sustainable food solutions.  (more…)