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A press conference introduces the “Italian Cuisine – Italian Style” cooking contest in Hanoi. Photo: VOV

In early 2021, ICHAM kicked off with the first event with the Pasta Master Class that took place at the end of January at Hotel Metropole Hanoi with the participation of companies in the field of importing and distributing Italian food, representatives of restaurants, hotels, chefs, and individuals in the F&B industry, according to Vietnam Investment Review.

After that, a series of special events is taking place in three consecutive weeks from April 20 to May 22. The True Italian Taste project will close with the Authentic Italian Table event scheduled to take place in September.

Following the success of previous events, the next event of the project will be held in the form of a contest with the theme of Italian Kitchen Style until May 22 in Hanoi.

The contest promises to have new, creative changes from form to participants while retaining the purpose of introducing and promoting the rich Italian menu and cuisine, providing information and knowledge for consumers to distinguish the standards of Made in Italy products from counterfeit products and Italian-sounding products.

Photo: hanoigrapevine.com

The highlight of the next series of events is the combination of two events devided into three rounds of competition.

For the first qualifying round, the organisers will integrate the Master Class sessions with the participation of professional Italian chefs to provide information and knowledge to contestants, and contestants can directly exchange and learn together.

In the semi-finals, players will rely on the knowledge gained from the Master Class to cook at home and record the process, take photos, and send them to the organisers.

The final round will include excellent individuals overcoming the first two rounds to try their best to complete a menu for the Authentic Italian Table.

Compared to previous events, this competition is expected to be much more diverse as participants can be anyone aged 18 and over who have a passion and ability to cook Italian food.

More and more Italian textile firms are investing in Vietnam to take advantage of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. Photo: VNA

In the past five years, Italy's export turnover to Vietnam has increased by 78 percent, reaching $1.5 billion in 2020. Of this, exports of agricultural products and foodstuffs increased by 86 percent, accounting for 6.7 percent.

In order to further promote the promotion of food and beverage products originating from Italy to Vietnamese consumers as well as culinary and cultural exchanges, the national culinary promotion True Italian Taste project is implemented by the Italian government in 40 countries and territories. The project has been operating in Vietnam since 2019. ICHAM has been appointed by the Italian government as the implementing agency for this project in Vietnam.

“Vietnam is one of the priority countries of our world’s market strategy. It’s an important market with almost 100 ml consumers, with growing income, and sophisticated taste," Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Antonio Alessandro was cited by the VOV at a recent press conference in Hanoi.

"We believe that Vietnam is an appropriate country to launch this kind of initiative, by doing so we can count on the appreciation of Vietnamese public for Italian F&B. We want to increase bilateral exchanges which were around US$5 billion in 2019. We work together with Vietnamese partners to strengthen strategic partnership and make our business growth in both ways.”

Pham Hoang Hai, executive director of the Italian Chamber of Commerce (ICHAM) said the “True Italia Taste” program aims to help Vietnamese businesses and consumers understand more about “Made in Italy” products and have the best choice in selecting “100 percent Made in Italy ingredients”.

In another way, it helps Vietnamese importers and distributors learn about Italian food and beverage criteria, import and export policies, Italian market, taste, and demand for agro-food products.

Photo: cand.com.vn

A representative of An Nam Fine Food Company, which imports Italian food to Vietnam, said, “We have two distribution channels – retailers and HoReCa – covering almost all supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, and caterings in Vietnam. An Nam company has considered many things when we choose any brand of products, including the quality of products and reputation of the brand to customers to ensure the success of the product.”

Ambassador Antonio Alessandro said that Italy is famous for 3F letters - food, fashion, and furniture and one of the world’s 10 largest food exporters. However, Italy’s food exports to Vietnam remain modest, about EUR70 million.

“The business environment in Vietnam has changed considerably over the last 20-30 years since Doi Moi (Renewal)," said Ambassador Antonio Alessandro. "The country has liberalized the business sector and Italian companies operating in Vietnam are generally very happy about the business environment in the country. Of course there are areas where you can do better we can do better as foreign partners. And the EVFTA provides the mechanisms for a bilateral consultations and provides instruments to make these business environment even better”./.

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