True Italian Taste - 2nd Year

Dear Members and Friends,

The China-Italy Chamber of Commerce is glad to announce that, for the 2nd year in-a-row, it will bring the “True Italian Taste” project forward, for the promotion of authentic Italian F&B products.

The “True Italian Taste” is promoted and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and carried out by Assocamerestero (the Association of the Italian Chambers of Commerce Worldwide) in cooperation with the Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad. “True Italian Taste” is part of the program "The Extraordinary Italian Taste".

The project aims at promoting authentic Italian products to hinder the issue of those products with an Italian appearance, but not attributable to an authentic Made in Italy production chain, also known as “Italian sounding” products. Due to this phenomenon, consumers are misled into buying products that are not authentic Italian, which damage the image of those authentically Made in Italy.

Throughout the year 2019, the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce organized different activities:

• Masterclass - 28th May 2019, Guangzhou: the event provided deep insights on the authentic and certified Italian food & wine products DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) & IGP (Protected Geographical Indication), in order to emphasize the special peculiarities of the Italian Cuisine. Moreover, a professional Italian Chef was invited to let the guest experience a professional cooking show and to offer participants the opportunity to taste a real Italian dish paired with Italian Wines.

• The Authentic Italian Table - 15th June 2019, Beijing: the seminar was held to broaden the understanding on the “Italian sounding” phenomenon and on the DOP & IGP labels, followed by a wine masterclass, which offered an insight on the differences characterising Italian wines according to the methods of production.

• Wine Masterclass - 25th September 2019, Shanghai: besides explaining how to avoid “Italian sounding” products thanks to DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) & IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) certifications, the event highlighted the importance of 2019 for relationships between China and Italy, followed by the presentation of eight wines with their geographical and interesting details.

• Production of promotional videos to be shared on social platforms: the CICC shared six videos to promote and enhance authentic Italian Food & Wine products among Chinese consumers. Such videos represent some recipes (oil and garlic pasta, bruschetta and frittata) and authentic Italian products (cheese, fresh and dry pasta, and Italian gelato).

The project continued throughout 2020:

• Post Event - True Italian Taste – Masterclass History and Tradition of Italian Cheese Shanghai Sept. 5th, 2020
• Post Event - The Authentic Italian Table Guangzhou - September 18th, 2020: 
• Food Safety Conference, September 18th, 2020
• Post event - “Italian Pasta and Spices” Masterclass Chongqing – 29/09/2020
• Production of promotional videos to be shared on social platforms:

           Italian Mozzarella Recipe

Also in 2021, CICC will plan several activities, such as: masterclasses, promotional events (The Authentic Italian Table), online promotion through a WeChat Miniprogram and delegations in Italy.

The main target remains raising awareness on the genuine Italian Food & Wine productions among Chinese industry experts.

The promotional actions of the CICC focus on:

• Enhancing the authentic Made in Italy products and highlighting genuine Italian products and the link between agri-food excellence and its territory of origin;

• Help local consumers to recognize authentic Italian products compared to the Italian sounding ones;

• Supporting Italian SMEs in increasing their presence in the Chinese market through B2B meetings with local companies in the food&wine sector;

• Maximize the visibility of Italian companies already active in the local market.

To know more about the events and activities related to the “True Italian Taste” project organized by the CICC, keep up to date on our official website and social networks.

Kind Regards,

CICC Team