Host Milano roadshow in Canada

Host Milano, Italy's trade fair for catering and hospitality, is on the road for its internationalisation mission. From Dubai, it has reached Canada, another of the focus countries, together with the USA. There Host Milano collaborated with Restaurants Canada, the country’s biggest out-of-home association, with over 30,000 members from restaurants and cafés, caterers, industrial suppliers and institutions. This alone could guarantee that the exhibition on 22 - 26 October 2021 will see strong participation from Canada. The event aims to increase exchanges between the two markets, especially in Food Service Equipment, a sector considered the jewel in the crown of Host  Milano for two reasons: its importance in terms of goods (figures for October 2019 edition have Food Service Equipment, together with bread/pizza/pasta, as the biggest macro-areas at 43.94%); and its potential for synergies with other areas and industries, resulting in a hybridisation of ideas and strategies among different sectors. 

Food Service Equipment  

At Host Milan 2021, the global equipment hub will showcase products from 821 companies (371 international). By country, the ranking is Spain, followed by Germany, France, the United States, the Netherlands, the UK, Greece, and Portugal. 

In October last year, 200,000 visitors came to Milan (up 8% over 2017), with 40% from 171 countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.  The halls of Rho Fiera hosted a genuinely borderless marketplace, with business opportunities among Made in Italy brands and international buyers, as well as among international brands.

The world's top companies in Food Service Equipment were in attendance: Irinox, Moretti Forni, Angelo Po, Sirman, Alto-Shaam, Meiko and Middleby, just to name a few in the entire sector of Ho.Re.Ca businesses which includes Furnishings, Technology and Table to Coffee and Tea – Bar, Coffee Machines and Vending – Ice Cream and Pastries. Their innovative prototypes and products were shown exclusively and for the first time, and in advance of forthcoming trends.

Partnerships with associations, buyers and events

To highlight Host Milan's designation as the global equipment hub, there are the numerous strategic agreements stipulated with the most important Italian and foreign trade associations, primarily those in the event's strategic markets, from the Middle East to the USA, and Canada (Restaurants Canada, the Baking Association of Canada; IDC - Interior Designers of Canada; NEWH - the Hospitality Industry Network; OCSA - the Ontario Convenience Store Association; AQDA - Association Quebecoise des Dépanneurs en Alimentation, and CAMA - the Canadian Automatic Merchandising Association).

The role of Host Milano as a global professional hospitality hub also includes the presence of 950 hosted buyers (with 80% turnover) and a calendar of events: more than 800 events of all types, designed to satisfy the most demanding palates (including national and international championships, show-cooking, demos by pastry chefs and bar tenders), augmented by opportunities for insights on the most “burning” issues of the day: from sustainability to technologies 4.0, like Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things.

Canada: the out-of-home sector will be worth more than CAD100 billion in 2021

In recent years, the market has more than doubled, with just a small downturn in 2009. In Canada, one of the countries identified by Host Milano as a target for its promotional strategies, the food service is growing. This is confirmed by figures published by Restaurants Canada: industry turnover in 2019 reached CAD 93.64 billion (€65.15 billion), up 4.2% over 2018. The Canadian boom is also confirmed by the growth of the industry as a whole over the last 10 years, from CAD59.3 billion in 2010 to a projected over CAD100 billion in 2021.

The prospects in the Canadian food & beverage industry are not just a matter of data, however. Canadian food service, according to a recent survey made by the association, is increasingly open to new consumer requirements: convenience (home deliveries are growing fast), excellent quality, and an experience ready for Instagram. These trends go well together with the habits of new out-of-home consumers, millennials and Generation Z, who are likely to combine home-cooked food, convivial meals at the restaurant and food ordered online. The common denominator is that the ingredients must be natural, healthy, high quality, and sourced with a short supply chain.