World Week of Italian Cuisine 2022

For the VII Week of Italian Cuisine in the World, the Italian Trade Agency in Ljubljana, in coordination with the Embassy of Italy in Slovenia, organized the second edition of the Competition for Slovenian gastronomy students, who represent the chefs of tomorrow. Inspired by the signing on November 14, 2022 of an agreement between ALMA Cooking School in Parma and BIC-Biotechnical Educational Center in Ljubljana, this year six students were pre-selected by BIC among their best ones and competed to be awarded an eight-month course at the prestigious Italian Academy, housed in the Reggia di Colorno, residence of the Dukes of Parma.

In such a complex period, we decided to give once again to a young Slovenian the opportunity to deepen the knowledge - into an Italian school of consolidated tradition - on food sustainability, a value that perfectly matches with the products of the Mediterranean Diet, that are also part of Slovenian tradition. Through the preparation of a complex dish, illustrated by ALMA Chef Paco Zanobini - assisted by Sous Chef Elena Minari - the jury evaluated the competitors on several criteria such as presentation, creativity, taste, structure of the dish and technique.

Since last year, Italian Institutions in Slovenia have been carrying on a strong synergy between various projects to promote Made in Italy food, so that Slovenian consumers could understand the importance of using only authentic Italian products: the fight against counterfeit food and Italian Sounding continues to be a priority commitment of the Italian government. The results of the collaboration agreement between Italian Trade Agency and the local retailer Mercator - which a year ago introduced 220 new Italian food & wine products on their shelves -  were excellent, as was the Christmas promotion project, carried out with Agraria Koper in the Slovenian Littoral Region until January of this year.

"The VII Week of Italian Cuisine continues its ideal journey in Slovenia through traditional flavors, to promote food and wine as a distinctive trait of Italian identity and culture" - declared the Ambassador of Italy Carlo Campanile - "this year I am particularly pleased that thanks to this initiative the collaboration between ALMA and the BIC of Ljubljana could be consolidated: it's a combination that I am sure will bring new opportunities for young Slovenian students to deepen their already strong appreciation for Made in Italy".

Trade between the two countries, which at the end of 2021 amounted to nine billion euros, is continuing to record those excellent results that place Slovenia at the same level, for Italy, of important G20 countries.

For food sector, Italy continues to be Slovenia's leading partner: in 2021, Italy's market share on Slovenian food & beverage import was 17.6% and this year the data for the first 7 months indicate a share of 16.5% of the total Slovenian imports of the sector: in addition to a significant presence of products from Italian food industry, there is a growing interest among Slovenian consumers for some Italian niche products, especially organic ones, especially from the Central-Southern Regions, less known than the ones produced in the North-East of Italy.

 

Video