Organics flying Italy’s colours will soon be taking off for destinations in Southeast Asia and South America. The carrier is Organicity, a three-year info-services support vehicle designed by Bioagricoop, unveiled at the last Sana trade show in Bologna, and financed by the European Union and the Italian government.
Participating businesses are packing their bags with certified organic food products, especially those underscoring the Mediterranean diet, for boarding and take-off in October to market destinations East and West: Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Brazil. They can rely on a range of supporting services for promoting and selling their wares: from extra virgin olive oil to produce both fresh and processed, from whole grains, pasta and bakery items to meat, wine and cheese.
As a consortium set up to carry out the endeavour, which also has the patronage of Expo 2015, Organicity aim is to «provide the organisational expertise and support for Italian businesses -said project head Carla Gambini, recalling the similar venture for China. – Despite the rather adverse market weather, we managed to make some very promising headway there as quite a few Chinese importers have already placed orders for Italian organic foods».
Organicity participants will have a long list of agenda appointments when they arrive. These will include press conferences prior to evening gala events attended by trade journalists, bloggers, importers, distributors and restaurateurs of the local target markets, trade shows, info-seminars and workshops with post-event tastings at restaurants and hotels, and even week-long product promotions at outlets of local supermarket chains. While Brazil is the only market that requires its own organics certification procedure in addition to Italy’s, contacts to cut the red tape there have already been made.
The first destination in October will be Jakarta. The event is an all-Italian festival with invited target contacts, and Organicity will be the only participant displaying food.
«Organics – noted Gambini – put you a stride ahead of all the others because you’re dealing with countries having enormous demand potential as they are still far behind us in this sector. And there’s the added value of Italy having a high profile because of its world-renowned cuisine».
In order to participate, business must pay an entry-membership fee of a €100 to Bioagricert, which entitles them to use the coop’s services. They can then decide which course of action to pursue: the simplest is to sign on for the entire three-year endeavour, all included, by joining the consortium under a package deal with a membership fee of €1,500, or they can sign up for individual trips and events.
