PUNTOITALY N°2 - July - December 2012

Testimonials The interest aroused by our magazine at Gelatissimo. The German representative of Miss Italy in the World, Maristella Giunta, visiting the puntoItaly stand in Stuttgart. 34 promoted by the German magazine “Gastronomie Report” inviting young architects to propose innovative, imaginative designs for restaurants of the future. Some of the ideas seem to have emerged from the imagination of a science-fiction writer, but then again, how many things only dreamed of in the past have gone on to become reality? The winner of the competition, Veronika Wernsdoerfer, proudly explained to us the particular features of her restaurant which, thanks to holo- graphic projections, would make it possible to dine at Lon- don with one’s partner “projected” onto the chair opposite, while that partner would be sharing the same experience in a similar set-up in Sydney. A fascinating thought! And what about the motor-home imagined by Sebastian Winter, pow- ered by solar energy, which could be parked along the GELATISSIMO-INTERGASTRA Stuttgart (Germany), 11 - 15 February 1,200 exhibitors - 85,000 visitors PuntoItaly received a very cold welcome in Stuttgart - the first stage of its international tour promoting the best Italian com- panies in the away-from-home food & drink market. Fortu- nately however it was cold only meteorologically. I got the full force of winter as soon as I exited the doors of this German city’s modern airport and was hit by 15 degrees below zero which was driven by a stiff breeze and chilled me to the bone. It was fortunate therefore that excellent German organisation allowed me to go straight into the trade fair centre after only a few minutes walk from the airport, without needing to use public transport, since the airport, trade fair centre and hotel are all close at hand, a real luxury, and one of the reasons why the number of exhibitors has grown by more than 200 over the previous edition. The pavilions of Intergastra, the exhibition of innovative gas- tronomy, have a very international flavour, but once we reach pavilion 7 occupied by Gelatissimo, where puntoItaly stand is located, Italian is the predominant language. With their own signs, or represented by their own distributors, many of the principal Italian brands occupy most of the display areas, and many of the visitors who stop and talk with us are of Italian ori- gin, and have emigrated to Germany. They are proud of their work in their new country, but do not hide a touch of nostal- gia for their places of origin that they left some years ago. Over the 5 days of the exhibition, we meet a number of op- erators, each with their own story and their own aspirations, such as the youthful protagonists in a curious competition