On the occasion of the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York, we met Luciano D’Aponte, head of agrifood promotion for the Campania Region. We spoke with him about the strategies put in place to support the export of Campania’s excellence, the challenges related to Italian Sounding and the central role of the pizza chain in strengthening the international reputation of regional products. Between international trade fairs, targeted investments and protection of denominations, Campania aims to consolidate its presence in global markets.
What are the concrete tools that the Campania Region is making available to agribusinesses in Campania to help them grow outside Italy?
The Campania Region has an agribusiness program promoted by Councillor Nicola Caputo, which includes many initiatives, which are increasingly frequent, including abroad. Our program has about 40 initiatives, more than 10 of which are aimed at international markets. We are present throughout Europe, from Spain to France, participating in fairs such as Alimentaria and SIAL for the agri-food sector, and for wine in events such as Wine Paris and ProWein.
But we don’t stop at Europe-we are also active in the rest of the world. We were recently in Japan, last month in Shanghai, China, and of course in the United States. Here we regularly participate in the Fancy Food Show, where we never miss, and Vinitaly in Chicago. It is, in short, quite a busy package of trade shows.
What is the key to communicating the value of craftsmanship and excellence from Campania in the U.S. market? And what is the product category with the greatest room for growth?
Craftsmanship is a transversal characteristic of both agribusiness and wine. As far as wine is concerned, our numbers are not comparable to those of Piedmont, Tuscany or Veneto, but we have excellences that are increasingly present on the market: I am thinking of Fiano di Avellino, Greco di Tufo, Falanghina del Sannio for whites, but also reds such as Aglianico del Sannio and Taurasi.
In the agrifood field, our performance in the United States is even more significant, to the point of fueling – unfortunately – even Italian Sounding phenomena, as happens with San Marzano tomatoes or buffalo mozzarella. There are many products from Campania’s agrifood sector that make the difference, and we can say that, in terms of volume, we are second only to Emilia-Romagna.
Looking to the future, what are the Campania region’s priorities for consolidating the reputation of its products and attracting new investment?
I mentioned earlier the problem of Italian Sounding, which affects many of our PDO and PGI products: tomatoes are copied, or marketed without respect for European designations. This is why we have put in place an articulated promotion involving the entire pizza supply chain. The art of the Neapolitan pizza maker is a UNESCO heritage, and through this supply chain-and thanks to the many Campanian pizza makers and chefs around the world-we aim to make our products travel more and more. The goal is to increase exports and strengthen the reputation of Campania’s agribusiness globally.
Thank you for being with us.
Thank you.
The article Luciano D’Aponte talks about Campania’s agri-food exports comes from TheNewyorkese.
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