Record-breaking Italy, Fancy Food partner for the second time,
no one has ever received this recognition.

NEW YORK (October 29, 2019) – The Specialty Food Association is proud to announce that Italy will be the PARTNER COUNTRY for both of this year’s Fancy Food Shows:

• Winter Fancy Food Show, January 19 to 21, 2020, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco

• Summer Fancy Food Show, June 28 to 30, 2020, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York

Italy’s achievement is an absolute first, no one has ever received this recognition from the Specialty Food Association, the show’s owner and produer.

The Specialty Food Association is the largest food network in the United States, founded in 1952 in New York, by importers and business owners. It is a non-profit association with 3,000 members in the United States and abroad.

The Fancy Food Show is the largest trade event dedicated to specialty foods in North America and many industry workers consider its New York summer edition to be among the top food shows in the world.

Italy was already the partner country in 2015, but just for the Summer show, and in 2016 for the Winter show; now it will be the partner country for all of 2020.

This is the first time that a country has the opportunity to be the partner country twice.

Under the banner, “The Extraordinary Italian Taste,” food companies from nearly every region in Italy will present the excellence of Authentic Italian Food to the world of restaurants, print retails and stakeholders.

“We are very privileged that Italy will be the first country to partner with us for both Winter and Summer Shows in 2020,” said Phil Kafarakis, SFA’s president. “The popularity of Italian cuisine in the U.S. is undeniable. Historically, among our dozens of international participants at Fancy Food Shows over the years, Italy has routinely hosted the largest pavilion. At our Summer Show in 2019, the Italian pavilion covered over 24,000 square feet!

Americans love Italian cuisine and Italian specialty foods have played an important historic role in expanding the appetite for global flavors in the United States. Today, even as we see expanding disruption in consumer eating habits, authentic and innovative Italian products continue to be influential across all channels. We’re excited to see what they will be bringing to the 2020 Fancy Food Shows.” Phil Kafarakis concludes

At the Winter Fancy Food Show 2020, Italy will be present with more than 60 companies. declares Maurizio Forte, Director of the ICE Agency in New York and Coordinator of the USA network

Once again, we will be the most numerous country pavilion, thanks to the consolidated alliance between ICE Agency, Specialty Food Association and Universal Marketing.

The entire range of authentic Italian products will be on display: cheese, pasta, prosciutto and salumi, olive oil, preserves, condiments, desserts, mineral waters and much more.

The intensive cooking show program hosted by the ICE Lounge will allow visitors to enjoy Italian products right there and then and appreciate the innovation capacity of our companies.

Being nominated 2020 Country-Partner by the show organizers is an honor: Maurizio Forte concludes a recognition for always being the country with the highest number of exhibitors and, also, for the excellence of the products our exhibitors bring to the show.

The teamwork of Italian institutions with SFA and its exclusive agent for Italy Universal Marketing offers, edition after edition, new stimuli and opportunities for the promotion of the authentic Made in Italy on the US market.

“Italian food represents a standard of excellence in the United States,” states Donato Cinelli, President of Universal Marketing, exclusive agent for Italy of the Specialty Food Association.

Italy is the largest international pavilion at the Fancy Food Shows, and through the years it has contributed in no small measure to the show’s strength and quality.

“When, 25 years ago, we accepted the challenge, and we took part in creating the Italy pavilion within the Summer Fancy Food in New York,” Cinelli continues, “we never thought even for a moment that we would be able to reach these goals.

“To announce today, from New York, that Italy will be the partner country for Fancy Food for all of 2020 is beyond our wildest expectations.

“We’re very proud of this,” Cinelli concludes. “Step by step, we’ve seen the growth of Italian business owners, districts and consortiums, which over time have understood the importance of telling their product’s story; today America is fascinated by stories of Made in Italy quality and success.

“Thanks, first of all, to our partners, such as the Specialty Food Association, ICE, Federalimentare, Cibus, TuttoFood and Vinitaly, with whom we’ve created a winning team over the years.”