May 8, 2018
Today was our first visit to CIBUS, which was held at Fiere di Parma (The Parma Fair). Fiere di Parma is located at the northwest outskirts of the city. It is a massive exhibition center which utilized 8 venue halls to accommodate the CIBUS food and beverage trade show. CIBUS boasts over 3000 food and beverage vendors solely from across Italy. We arrived at 9am and waited with the crowd to enter at 9:30am. We were amazed at all of the helicopter traffic. VIP guests were arriving by helicopter and landing in the parking lot. They were coming is at a rate of one arrival and take off every few minutes. This pace kept up all day during both of our two day visit.
As soon as 9:30am hit, the doors were opened and it looked like the start of the Boston Marathon dressed business professional. We made our way into the first of the 8 venue halls and started foraging. About 200 feet into the Hall, we came across the Loison Pasticceria booth. We walked into the amazingly detailed and appointed booth. Dario saw us immediately and came right over to greet us. I've been to countless trade shows regionally, nationally, and internationally and have witnessed many elaborate booths. The Loison booth was spectacular and perfectly reflected all of the aspects of the high quality, passion, creativity, and dedication in which Loison operates.
Dario gave us his catalogue and price list for the up coming holiday season then suggested we go get an espresso at a booth near by. We walked over an indulged in this very Italian tradition.
After the espresso, we started to walk the show floor. Each of the 8 venue halls host different sectors of food and beverage. They are divided by the following categories; Grocery, Confection and Bakery, Fresh Cut, Deli, and Frozen, Cold Meat, Dairy, Beverages, Local - Regional - International, and Special Areas.
It didn't take long for something to catch Darrell's attention: Anchovies! We came across the booth hosted by Rizzoli Emanuelli S.P.A. www.rizzoliemanuelli.com
Rizzoli is know since 1906 for their anchovies. They also produce mackerel and tuna. We were invited to sit and taste some of their new products, as well as some creations made fresh by their on site chefs.
We enjoyed the tasting very much. We look forward to offering their new grilled Tuna and Mackerel packed in olive oil and easy opening see through packaging. It was time to move on. The high level of money spent on the booths and the displays was amazing. Some vendors spared no expense and imagination.
We made our way through the hall of meats and were amazed at the 4400 lb mortadella we walked by. It was made solely to be a grand display here at CIBUS.
We stopped at the Piave D.O.P. cheese booth so Darrell could meet up with a contact who scheduled to meet so he could give Darrell a book. We did a tasting of the Piave cheeses and washed them down with some regional wine. Yum! We continued on through the show making our way to visit another booth hosted by the Longo family.
We found the Longo un Mondo di SpecialitĂ booth and were met by Osvaldo Longo and his daughter Cecilia. Longo provides Corti Brothers with their Bardi Panettone line, which we import from Italy at Christmas time. Longo operates as one of the most prestigious corporate gift companies in Europe specializing in Italian food and drink. They also sell unique wine storage concepts from very functional wine racks to extravagant underground cellars, refrigerated champagne picture frames, and wall decor. More to come about Longo as we visited their headquarters at the end of our trip. We made a short visit and sat in their booth where they shared tastes of their panettone paired with chilled Prosecco. We also met Francesca Monaco from Longo who was helping in their booth.
We had another contact to meet, so we left the Longo un Mondo di SpecialitĂ booth and made our way to the regional producer's building. We passed by a good deal of beer and ale booths. The craft beer market seems to be as strong in Italy as it is back home.
We made it into the regional producer's building as I was trying to talk on the phone to our next contact. The service was sketchy, so it took a few attempts to find her. We finally found her in front of the booth representing the region on Campania. Amelia Cuomo and her family own and operate Pastifico Cuomo, a pasta making company with roots dating back to the 1840'slocated in Gragnano just south east of Naples sitting in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. Amelia is the Export Manager for her family's company.
She was introduced to me by Piero Selvaggio, the restaurateur owner of Valentino Restaurant, via Facebook. He saw that we were going to be at CIBUS and wanted us to meet her. Piero met Amelia while she was visiting southern California. He said that Pasta Cuomo was the best pasta he's ever used. We sat down at a table and looked through the Pasta Cuomo brochure as Amelia told us of her family's history and production. We had a very nice meeting with Amelia and were impressed with her pasta. If it becomes available through any of our suppliers, we will offer it at Corti Brothers.
Our day was passing by very quickly. It was now close to 5pm and we really didn't even make a dent into seeing the show. We looked through the regional building and saw some pretty interesting products. We tasted the rare pistachios from Bronte, Sicily and came across an absolutely addictingly delicious tea wafers made with the pistachios.
Closing time for CIBUS came, so it was back to the car to seek out dinner. Darrell again referred to his copy of Fuoricasello to find an interesting place to eat. He chose Trattoria Le Viole.
Trattoria Le Viole is located in the small town of Castelnovo, which lies along side the Parma River about 15 minutes north of Parma by car. Operated by sisters Rosanna and Lucia Petrera and Rosanna's husband Roberto, the trio maintain the very countryside feel they established 28 years ago when they fell in love with the old farmhouse which they transformed into Le Viole. Le Viole specializes in traditional and typical dishes of Parma. We arrived before the crowd and were shown to our table. When we turned into the room were our table was, we had a very big surprise. Cecilia Longo and Francesca Monaco were sitting at a table. They were hungry after a long day presenting at CIBUS and wanted a good dinner. It was a wonderful surprise for us all. We joined with them and all sat together for dinner.
Dinner was superb, but as Darrell said to Cecilia and Francesca as we finished dessert "Dinner was very good, but the best thing about tonight's meal was the company of you two Ladies." Shaun and I couldn't agree more. We had one final treat as we finished up our meal, a spring storm was rolling through and the thunder and lightening gave us a show as we left the restaurant.
We drove back to our hotel, had a quick nightcap at the bar, and then we three very tired Food Show walkers turned in for the night.