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Trento – The event that was held yesterday at the Grand Hotel Trento and which saw the Association of public businesses of Trentino gathered for the usual annual assembly was a very popular event. Beyond the institutional formalities – which confirm the good health of the association – the meeting was an opportunity to take stock of the difficult situation that companies in the sector are experiencing but also to outline a system network that offers a perspective of development for the entire Trentino food and wine sector, of which the public establishments are the showcase or, as the title of the conference states, “the last mile”. «It has been two years during which you have shown that you are heroic – said the director of Fipe Roberto Calugi – in a period in which we have lost 46 thousand companies, 250 thousand collaborators and over 5 and a half billion in turnover. Thanks to the Federation, we have included the companies in the sector in the PNRR and extended the Ter Aid Decree also to public businesses and restaurants ».
The data on participation shows the importance that the annual meeting held yesterday has for the Association of public businesses of Trentino, led by the president Fabia Roman. If many associates crowded the halls of the Grand Hotel Trento, the number of authorities who attended the event is equally remarkable. An event that was not intended to be just a review of the activity carried out by the association and the extremely complicated period that the sector is experiencing, but which aimed to lay the foundations for a broader horizon that enhances the role of public businesses as ” last mile ”of Trentino food and wine: a showcase that, in a territory with a marked tourist vocation, represents an opportunity for significant development.
The public part of the assembly was attended by the president of Confcommercio Trentino Giovanni Bort and the president of the Trentino restaurateurs association Marco Fontanari, the provincial councilors Giulia Zanotelli, Roberto Failoni, Achille Spinelli and Mirko Bisesti, as well as the mayor of Trento Franco Ianeselli, to the president of the provincial council Walter Kaswalder. The president of the Province Maurizio Fugatti also wanted to send a message of attention to the forum: “We enhance and support the Trentino heritage, made up of excellence in hospitality and gastronomy, also to highlight the supply chain of local excellence, in a network logic and exchange. To face the economic crisis and continue to be protagonists of the future of Autonomy. The Administration will continue to be alongside economic operators to overcome obstacles related to energy costs and the challenge of finding qualified personnel ».
At the center of the public assembly, the Charter of Values of catering signed by national Fipe in 2021 and the Protocol for the promotion of the agri-food chain: documents at the center of the debate between Roberto Calugi, national FIPE director, Camilla Lunelli, communication and external relations director of the Lunelli Group, Maurizio Rossini, CEO of Trentino Marketing and Davide Rampello, director and popularizer, former president of the Milan Triennale and curator of Pavilion Zero at Expo Milano 2015.
“In a historical moment, characterized by strong international tensions, – said the president Fabia Roman in her opening speech – in which instinct would suggest disintegration, I am convinced that the most difficult challenge is precisely to remain united within of a path shared with all those sectors with which we have a professional but also human relationship on a daily basis. I’m talking about producers, breeders, farmers with whom we have established relationships and collaborations over the years ».
«The spirit of sharing and collaboration that guides this Assembly can be found precisely in the Charter of Values of Italian Catering that we present today with Fipe and with the association of Restaurateurs. The Charter translates a pact between supply chains, which unites different economic sectors, to face the challenges of the accelerated changes of the emergency. But the spirit of sharing and collaboration that guides this Assembly can also be found in the Provincial Protocol signed with the Department of Agriculture and Tourism. The Protocol responds to the need to strengthen a common and shared vision on the major issues of food and wine within a process of enhancing local products that sees our activities positioned right in the last mile of the supply chain “.
The invitation to work together to enhance the quality of the local products and catering was accepted by the large representation of the Provincial Government present yesterday afternoon. After the greetings of the president Roman, the president of Confcommercio Trentino Giovanni Bort, Marco Fontanari and the mayor Franco Ianeselli, the councilor for agriculture Giulia Zanotelli intervened and highlighted the system value of the protocol for the enhancement of agro production – local food approved by the provincial government in the last session.
«It is a document – said Zanotelli – which represents the work that is being done, in collaboration between various departments, with Trentino Marketing and with the categories, for the promotion of Trentino products. The Trentodoc Festival, which will be held next weekend, is also one of the positive initiatives for the promotion of the territory. From the protocol we then expect that many other opportunities will arise capable of enhancing our quality productions ».
An invitation to look to the future with optimism came from the provincial tourism councilor Roberto Failoni. «We must look ahead – he said – because although the last few years have not been easy and even today there is a situation that arouses concern, the tourist summer has gone quite well and even now there are areas of Trentino that are working. But nothing comes by chance. These are the results of the important work being done, also through Trentino Marketing. The Trentodoc Festival will also be an event that we will remember for a long time and will be one of the many events that will be organized ». In conclusion, Failoni thanked the public exercises for the qualitative leap they have made, with visible and important results.
«We need ideas – added the councilor for economic development, research and work Achille Spinelli – and above all we need their rapid implementation. We are committed to this as a provincial government. To be effective, we need to select the fastest, most effective and targeted actions ». The Province, the commissioner recalled, referring to the complex period we are experiencing, is part of the solution to the problem: today we need more reflection to continue on the path of development. With the “Charter of values of Italian catering”, the reference values are set out for a unitary path of economic and cultural enhancement of catering companies, and, through them, of local communities, their culture, memory and the territory.
Starting from the principles expressed by the Charter, and with the aim of making them concrete in shared paths and operational projects, a memorandum of understanding was drawn up between the Province, Confcommercio del Trentino and the other employers’ organizations and other actors in the agricultural sector. The protocol will be signed in the next few days after being approved also by the provincial government during the last meeting.
The protocol provides that the parties undertake to promote and support the values expressed by the Charter, starting from the strong connection between the world of agriculture and that of tourism, with the commitment to disseminate them within their own channels and tools, with the aim of the economic and cultural enhancement of companies which, thanks to their activities, can contribute to supporting and promoting the economies and cultural diversities of the Trentino area, through, in particular, the enhancement of quality agro-food productions, expression of the territory, of the local communities, of their culture and memory.
«It has been two years during which you have shown that you are heroic – said the director of Fipe Roberto Calugi – in a period in which we have lost 46 thousand companies, 250 thousand collaborators and over 5 and a half billion in turnover. Thanks to the Federation, we have included the companies in the sector in the PNRR and extended the Ter Aid Decree also to public businesses and restaurants ». Calugi, expressing satisfaction for the event that was able to collect the interest of the associates in such a massive way, recalled the role of the Federation in the dual function of support and immediate intervention in favor of companies, as during the Covid-19 emergency and now with energy increases, but also in a long-term perspective, such as the Charter of Values. The document was drawn up thanks to the direction of Davide Rampello, on Monday in video connection with the assembly, which underlined the role of “cultural agencies” of public establishments, as an authentic voice and without mediation of the territories and of Italian food and wine excellences.
A reading shared also by Camilla Lunelli, who wanted to underline the importance of public establishments in conveying the products of the territory, also through specific training interventions aimed precisely at promoting local specialties. In a Trentino that over the years has achieved excellent results in the “high seasons”, was the reflection of Maurizio Rossini, food and wine productions and their promotion in public places play a decisive role towards a qualitative growth and as a function of greater attractiveness of the “Beautiful seasons”, that is, autumn and spring.
Massimo Travaglia is the new director of Confcommercio Trentino. At the headquarters in via Solteri in Trento, the president Giovanni Bort officially presented the new general director of the Association to the council and to all the staff. Massimo Travaglia, former financial director of the Confcommercio group, UCTS Trento srl and in via Solteri for 15 years, will assume the reins of the Association as general manager.
