Longarone Fiere: 35 awards for European Artisan Gelato Day

Twenty historical artisan gelato parlours were awarded for their role as standard bearers of gelato and another 15 were recognised for the excellence of their products during the 11th European Artisan Gelato Day, organised as part of prog. Nr. 16/2022 of the Veneto Region’s promotional programme, by Venicepromex with the Treviso- Belluno|Dolomiti, Venice- Rovigo and Padua Chambers of Commerce and in collaboration with Longarone Fiere Dolomiti. An event of tastings and reflections on the future of the sector was staged at the Hotel Ca’ Sagredo, in Campo Santa Sofia in Venice between new technologies, nutraceutical and anti-Alzheimer’s ice cream, reuse of food waste, vegan ice cream, and much more.

Thirty-five excellencies of the artisan gelato sector in the Veneto region were the protagonists of the 11th European Artisan Gelato Day staged this morning at the Hotel Ca’ Sagredo, in campo Santa Sofia 4198/99 30121-Venice.

Of these, 20 saw their role as standard-bearers of the regional artisan gelato tradition recognised, while another 15 received a mention for the excellence of their products. It was a festive day that rewarded the region’s best ice cream makers in the name of discussion, tasting, but also reflections on how to continue to ensure a flourishing future for artisan ice cream under the banner of protecting tradition and quality.

An occasion to discuss the evolution of this Italian product of excellence, new technologies, the ‘bio’ and ‘vegan’ lines, traditional ice cream and nutraceutical ice cream up to the challenges of science against degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

An event that by now has its own fixed place in the EU calendar: the European Artisan Gelato Day was in fact born in 2008 from an idea of Longarone Fiere Dolomiti and its gelato makers, on the occasion of the 49th edition of MIG, the International Exhibition of Gelato that is an unmissable appointment for operators in the sector. An idea that has gained continental recognition with ratification, on 5 July 2012, by the European Parliament, which for the first and only time chose to dedicate a day to a food.

And on the other hand, the numbers of the sector justify the EU’s attention to the Gelato phenomenon: the 2022 turnover in Europe has touched 10 billion (+13%) and in Italy it has reached 2.7 billion euro (+16% over 2021) in the 39 thousand points of sale between gelato parlours, pastry shops and bars that employ 77 thousand people (almost 300 thousand in the entire continent). And Veneto, with its 1,305 workshops, is the fifth region in the country in terms of artisan production after Lombardy (2,120 locations), Sicily (1,610), Campania (1,564), Lazio (1,453) and before Emilia Romagna (1,235).

Far from being just an abstract exercise, the European Artisan Gelato Day allowed participants to actually taste some innovative proposals such as Apfelstrudel, the flavour of the year 2023.

And amidst tastings of innovative products and flavours known to many generations of consumers, experts and protagonists of the global food & beverage scene brought their ideas and proposals for a sector that has always been able to associate tradition with a good dose of innovative capacity.

After the institutional greetings of Michele Dal Farra, President of Longarone Fiere, and Mario Pozza, President of Venicepromex, the discussion on the ‘Ice Cream of the Future’ between trends and business models was led by the astronauts’ chef and member of the Venicepromex Scientific Committee Health Chef Stefano Polato, the vegan ice-chef and research and development officer in collaboration with the University of Palermo Maurizio Valguarnera, Alessandro Piccinini, head of the historic MIG International Ice Cream Exhibition in Longarone, and Monica Morao, dietician and member of the Health Chef Scientific Committee. Journalist Gaia Padovan moderated the guests’ speeches.

“We meet again today in Venice on the occasion of the European Artisan Gelato Day,” says Mario Pozza, president of Venicepromex. “after taking part in the 62nd edition of the MIG in Longarone last November where, together with the Veneto Region, the Veneto Chamber system and Venicepromex, we brought 60 buyers and journalists to the fair with the aim of creating a moment of confrontation between all the professionals in the category. Today is an opportunity to reiterate the importance of working as a team together with the ice cream industry operators, in the knowledge that this year our country once again confirms its world leadership both in the ingredients and semi-finished products sector (65 companies involved and a turnover of 1.8 billion euro) and in the machinery, display cases, and equipment sector with a turnover of around 700 million euro and exports accounting for 70% of production”.

“We are proud to have conceived and obtained the European Artisan Ice Cream Day,” explains Michele Dal Farra, President of Longarone Fiere. “Today starts the path that will lead us to the International Ice Cream Exhibition in Longarone with a definitely renewed format, with an international scope and that will talk to companies and ice cream makers about the future in a fair dedicated exclusively to ice cream. This is the best way to honour those who have written this extraordinary story since 1959′.

The event, now in its tenth edition, is part of the promotional programme of the Veneto Region, organised by Venicepromex, Longarone Fiere Dolomiti and the Chambers of Commerce of Treviso-Belluno|Dolomiti, Venice-Rovigo and Padua.

The ‘Gelato Project’ is part of the Regional Projects 2022, and its objective is to support the traditional and quality artisan gelato sector in the Veneto Region, in order to promote the product in its health- and environment-related characteristics, as well as to enhance the short production and processing chain and the traditions of local communities.

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