It has been two weeks since the first edition of the Bellavita Expo took place in Amsterdam. After the first show in London in July the whole Italian crew of producers came to the Netherlands last November. Foodie-on-Toer was asked to visit and judge more than twenty food and beverage products during the show and blog about this first edition of the Italian world in the Netherlands.
The Italian market in the Benelux is worth €1.8 billion. In 2013, Italian food exportations to the Netherlands and Belgium reached €900 million (+ 6.5%) and €747 million (+3.4%) respectively. Italy has steadily positioned itself amongst the principal food and beverage commercial partners of the Netherlands and Belgium. Italian products now account for 12.7% of all imported groceries in the Netherlands, against 6% in Belgium. On the Bellavita Expo a special selected group of producers with high quality Italian products staged their products and thousands of Italian lovers and foodies visited the show in Amsterdam.
Any food lover had the change to taste a lot of the best Italian food and beverage products during the show. The producers and manufactures told their story very enthusiastically. You could also follow several beverage masterclasses on the stage floor and there was a big kitchen where the best chef's of Italy were cooking. Foodie-on-Toer was asked to judge more than 15 producers and their products. Not only the product qualities were relevant, but also the story behind the product, how the product was made and opportunities in the Benelux. Every producer had the opportunity to select a special product of their assortment to be awarded.
The Bellavita Awards is the first international awards program to be entirely dedicated to authentic Italian food and beverage. Judging will take place during the show by a panel of up to 100 high-profile, Benelux-based food and wine experts. These experts will rank entered products on a scale of three till ten, with ten representing the ultimate quality accolade. Products achieving the highest overall scores will receive one, two or three stars. Please click on the for a list with all the Awarded Producers of The Bellavita Expo in both category Food and Beverages
I arrived early in Amsterdam, after I got my judge package I started with an Italian coffee in the special Judge lounge. I made my tasting plan and entered the stage floor to discover the food section. A wide range of producers I selected and tasted a lot of products in the morning session, from nice smooth coffee, colorful chocolate till the so called black gold, the truffle. Of course as Cheese Sommelier I could not resist some dairy / cheese manufactures. A lot of the well known Italian cheeses were presented there, from Mozzarella till Parmesan.. but the products of L' Antica Cascine Srl with Pecorino cheeses, matured in special caves were my favorite. Not only the packaging is good, also the story behind the product is a great one to tell the consumers.
A few meters further I met the producer of the best Italian Buffalo products, Bufalapiu. A young entrepreneur who tell me with a lot of enthusiasm about his own Buffalo farm and the products he produces. Not only the famous mozzarella cheese, but also Yoghurt and a thicker variant called stracciatella, which is my favorite.
After the foodmarket I took a small break and ended my Italian experience with the beverages section. Beautiful wines were presented, a wide range from light white ones till the stronger red wines. It is a pleasure that I could try them all. I ended the day with a very delightful Spumante, nice and sparkling. This is exactly how I would describe my experience with this first edition of the Bellavita Expo. A perfect platform for the Italian producers to expand their network with grocery stores and importers in the Benelux. I had a very good impression of this first edition of this expo. Hopefully this will grow next year, because I do believe that the Italian products / kitchen will become more and more popular in the coming years. For now the Bellavita Expo will continues its journey to the USA, Chicago.