Tuttofood 2023 kicked off at the Milan Fair with 2,500 brands present, of which 20% from 46 foreign countries and over 800 buyers from 86 countries selected by the Fair and Ice Agency itself. Among the most represented are Spain, Greece, the Netherlands, Romania and Germany. Among the debutants: Saudi Arabia, Faroe Islands, South Africa, Sweden. These are some of the most important data from the just inaugurated edition of the Milanese agro-food fair, which will go on until Thursday 11 May.

For the first time, Tuttofood is being held after the agreement between the Parma and Milan trade fairs (see EFA News) and the Milanese event which will become Tuttofood powered by Cibus. "We are working with the Parma fair and with 'Cibus' and today we can formally declare that, together with Crédit Agricole, we can apply to become the European agri-food platform, putting Milan at the center like the Salone del Mobile does with furniture", declared the president of the Fiera Milano Foundation, Enrico Pazzali, during the opening ceremony of Tuttofood 2023.

"Food is a great pride for our nation - he continued - and since 2007 we have always believed that Italy does not have a platform, does not have an international reference fair. We know that the strongest fairs are in Germany and France and since then we've been trying to change: we've been working to make Parma and Milan the capitals of food".

Pazzali then spoke of "important fairs such as Vinitaly or Macfrut with which, when we have to offer ourselves abroad, union would be desirable", concluding: "We are ready to make ourselves available to the government and Italian companies: we make ourselves available of everyone so that this can be a collaborative platform for mutual interests and not for someone".

Tuttofood 2023 is spread over seven pavilions that highlight the affinities of the supply chain of the vertical sectors in the three macro areas of fresh, dry, frozen and fish.

Over 150 events, including exhibitor appointments and meetings organized during the four days of the exhibition. Among the latter, Retail Plaza, the format that analyzes changes in modern distribution, comparing companies with industry experts. Evolution Plaza is the area that the event dedicates to innovation not only in technology but also in its socio-economic aspects, for example in the new Confessioni a Tavola format, directly. Finally, the Better Future Award returns for the second year, in collaboration with Gdoweek and MarkUp.

Again with a view to sustainability and responsibility, the Tuttogood initiative against food waste is also being revived in collaboration with various Third Sector realities, which allows food that is still usable to be recovered at the end of the days of the event to be allocated to people in need through free canteens and food banks.