Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, and other Made in Italy products crowned Italy the official country partner of 2025 Fancy Food, America’s largest agribusiness trade show. At the Fasano restaurant, Specialty Food Association senior vice president Phil Robinson, Universal Marketing president Donato Cinelli, and Italian Trade Agency North America director Erica Di Giovancarlo endorsed this historic partnership that applies to the next winter edition in Las Vegas, Jan. 19-21, and the summer edition in New York, June 29-July 1.
More than one hundred Italian exhibitors are expected at the Las Vegas Convention Center. A brand-new area will be set up inside the Italian Pavilion, a landmark at the fair, to showcase new products, with guided tastings and show-cooking featuring the versatility of all ingredients and to comply with the slogan “Italy, the Art of Taste.”
“In the ITA area, we will have a lounge where guests can taste our typical products and where the “all’Aperitivo Italiano” event will take place with cheeses, prosciutto, and coffee,” said Di Giovancarlo. “For me, Fancy Food is a special event because it was one of the first activities I covered when I arrived in North America exactly one year ago. I couldn’t be more proud of the partnership we are celebrating today.”
The president of Universal Marketing, the exclusive agent for Italy for SFA and the Italy Pavilion manager, also celebrated the synergy created among the three parties. “We have never started a year so organized. And we will continue doing what Italy has been doing for 30 years at Fancy Food: promoting the tradition and the families who have been handing down their businesses and products for generations,” Cinelli said.
The wish of the vice president of SFA, which owns and operates Fancy Food and connects more than 3,000 importers and entrepreneurs around the world, is that “we will grow and be committed to making this partnership pay off,” Robinson said. “For the astronomical calendar, this is the year of the snake. But for the Fancy Food calendar, this is the year of Italy.”
Consul General of Italy in New York Fabrizio Di Michele also endorsed this collaboration, mentioning how important cooking and food are in Italy, for education and family tradition as a reason to get together.
Gabriele Colasanto, brand director of Giallo Zafferano, brought two of the platform’s top content creators, Aurora Cavallo and Bilena Settepani, who represent the new generation of Italian chefs and promoters in Italy and the United States. “According to a McKinsey survey, 92 percent of young Americans love Italian cuisine and would choose it for its nutritional and environmental values. These are between 18 and 34 years old and number about 80 million. So we are facing a great opportunity that we must seize through the voices of these new generations,” Colasanto said.
Relations between Italy and the United States could not be stronger. “In 2024, exports of the agri-food sector to the U.S. are reported to be $7.3 billion with partial data up to September, amounting to $6.3 billion, double-digit trend growth, exceeding 17 percent,” concluded ITA Director Di Giovancarlo. “Products such as water, pasta, cheeses, oil, wine, and sauces are always at the top of Americans’ consumption preferences contributing to the third position overall for Italian exports in the sector, after Mexico and Canada.”
