Tutto Food coursed through Milan

The international Tutto Food fair was held in Milan under the slogan “Feeding the World, Enjoying Your Business”.

The fair’s motto sounded in accord with the slogan of EXPO 2015, which was also held in Milan ― “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”. Perhaps Tutto Food failed to feed the world, but was definitely successful in engaging representatives from 141 countries of the globe. More than that, despite working in B2B format ― meaning only professionals were admitted ― the show saw more than 80,000 visitors within 4 days (May 8^th―11^th, 2017). 

2850 manufacturers had a chance to show themselves while “enjoying their business”. At the fair’s numerous stands, chefs kept cooking traditional meals, so the visitors could try unusual delicacies from various countries.

One doesn’t know where to look first with such abundance of foods, Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017,photo © Evgeny Utkin

Several pavilions were dedicated to meats and meat products ― prosciutto, sausages and such. Seafood, frozen goods, prefabricated products were also present. This embarrassment of delicious riches actually made it hard to concentrate on something particular.

Agromonte made themselves stand out with a Sicilian-themed Fiat, Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017, photo © Evgeny Utkin

Traditional Italian foods ― pasta and various sauces ― were especially abundant. The Agromonte company distinguished itself with a wide range of sauces (and a Fiat decorated with Sicilian patterns).

Vincenzo Spinosi, who heads the Spinosi company , talked on  how he invented new pasta types, Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017, photo © Evgeny Utkin

Pasta manufacturers worked wonders. Vincezo Spinosi ― the head of the Spinosi company talked about how he invented new pasta types and treated Obama, Prince Charles and other world celebrities to them. 

La fabbrica della Pasta Gragnano erected walls of pasta, Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017, photo © Evgeny Utkin

La fabbrica della Pasta Gragnano erected walls made of pasta: apart from commonly used durum wheat, integral wheat was also in demand, while Le gemme del Vesuvio presented macaroni made from purple potatoes.

Also there were plenty of jams, namely from traditional Italian fruit like tangerines, lemons, oranges and figs. Italy is rich in superb small businesses, which essentially produce home-made products. Among them: Poggiorosso, Buonocore, Locanda la Posta and many other companies from various Italian regions from Sicily to Piedmont. Masseria Clementina offered rare saffron grown in the Vesuvius National Park. This hand-picked spice is a principal component of Risotto alla Milanese. The fair even featured gold-infused olive oil.

The fair even featured gold-infused olive oil, Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017, photo © Evgeny Utkin

Traditional Italian desserts ― panettone (A Christmas cake) and colomba (a typical Easter cake) ― weren’t left out. Cova, Bistefani and all the major manufacturers of these holiday sweeties also took part in the expo.

Loison – they make panettones and colombas with various additions, Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017, photo © Evgeny Utkin

Loison deserves extra attention – aside from panettones and colombas with traditional candied fruit and raisins, the manufacturer also adds cherries, apricots, tangerines, oranges, lemon & chamomile, etc. At the stall styled as a 1930’s tea room, Dario Loison offered to taste colomba with rose petals.

Levico – a popular beverage (apple & ginger), Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017, photo © Evgeny Utkin

Naturally, there were numerous cookies and pastries, including vegan ones. At that, many products bore Bio and Vegan labels ― it became the expo’s trend.

Russia said “Yes!” to importing Dimmidisi salads and ready-to-eat foods, Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017, photo © Evgeny Utkin

Not only cookies and brioches (San Giorgio pastry was extremely delicious), but also various beverages were presented. Ginger drinks became Italy’s latest hit ― apple & ginger (Levico), lemon & ginger by Dimmidisi. By the way, Russia has already agreed to import salads and ready-to-eat products made by this company.

At the fair you could find caviar by an Italian company Adamas, Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017, photo © Evgeny Utkin

At the fair you could find everything, including caviar by both Italian Adamas and French Caviarde Gensac, but the most delicious caviar was provided by Antonius Caviar from Poland (the world’s 4^th largest manufacturer) ― they even offered to taste their “gold” caviar.

A Polish company Antonius Caviar even offered to taste their “gold” caviar, Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017, photo © Evgeny Utkin

The French treated visitors to oysters, the Swiss ― to sausages, cheese (Alpen Hirt) and sweets (Mürbel), Koreans ― to cabbage, seaweed and sauces, the Slovenians ― to bear sausages. It was impossible to remember everything showed there.

The Maxim Gorky Company brought their dehydrated potato flakes to Italy, Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017, photo © Evgeny Utkin

It was the first time when Russian companies took part in this show. They were Peroni ― it manufactures premium honey soufflé ― and Maxim Gorky, which brought their dehydrated potato flakes to Italy. The companies are very different, with very different clientele.

Honey Soufflé is a novel product, totally unknown in Italy. At first, honey is thoroughly mixed, then put to a thermal chamber at +5° C, where it matures just like cheese. Italians consider their honey to be superb, the best in the world. And 200 manufacturers showed their honey products on the expo’s stalls. In Milan they mistook Peroni for a local company and were surprised to know it was Russian. Roman Petchenko, the head and founder of the company brought a dozen of varieties to Italy ― the visitors liked raspberry, cranberry and pine nut flavors best of all.

The Maxim Gorky Company Director General Andrey Samoshin and Peroni founder Roman Petchenko, Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017, photo © Evgeny Utkin

Maxim Gorky is one of the largest Russian potato producers, so the company’s Director General Andrey Samoshin had a slightly different task in addition to finding end-consumers ― to establish contact with potato product (chips, fries, puree, gnocchi) manufacturers willing to buy their potato flakes. There were quite many of them, so he had to work hard.

Silvio Berlusconi attended the show, Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017, photo © Evgeny Utkin

Besides these two companies, about 30 large Russian buyers attended the expo, although the majority of buyers were from the USA, Germany and China. A number of Italian ministers, Silvio Berlusconi and Baraсk Obama (he spoke at the Seeds&Chips conference) visited the show along with Italian ministers.

Michelin chefs cooked meals and held master-classes, Tutto Food, Milan, May 2017, photo © Evgeny Utkin

Much like other major events (e.g., Saloni furniture expo), Tutto Food attracted numerous visitors to Milan. The various parts of the city saw Milano Food Week, while the Porta Genova district held the Italian Gourmet salon where Michelin chefs cooked meals and organized master-classes. As the expo is biennial, the next food festival will be held on the 6^th―9^th of May, 2019.

Evgeny Utkin, Italy, Milan

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