Identità Golose from the 24th to the 26th of October, the theme: "Building a new future". And the congress becomes digital too

It’s confirmed: the 16th edition of Identità Golose – the international congress of signature cuisine, pastry making and dining room service – will take place in the autumn, from Saturday 24th to Monday 26th October, always at Mi.Co in Milan.

This year Identità Golose will double, so to speak: on top of the original, impossible to miss live event, which will not change though it will comply with large events’ regulations, there will be a powerful digital platform that will allow people to follow the congress in its various stages and share the experience of the partner companies without any limits in time and participation.

While the congress will keep its traditional dimension - that is based on meetings and connections, the sharing and the experience - the digital part will allow new and significant opportunities to interact. It’s a chance that organisers will experiment in October and that will offer Identità Golose original opportunities of development in the future.  

The commitment of the founders, Paolo Marchi and Claudio Ceroni, in giving continuity to an event that has been taking place, without any interruption, since 2005, derives from the fact their desire is shared by all the speakers, partners and businesses that in March have replied, with no hesitation, to the invitation to renew their participation. «It will be a big responsibility - Marchi and Ceroni said – to find, with the help of everyone, the characteristics, conditions and ideas that will build a new future».

And indeed "Building a new future" will be the new theme of the congress. Marchi says: «When on the 25th of February we decided, before everyone else, and with great caution  and "sense of responsibility" [which was in fact the initial theme] to postpone Identità Golose 2020 from March to July, we could not fully perceive the size of the emergency that was arriving. Somehow we thought it would be enough just to change the date, without rethinking the event itself: who would have thought that that was the eve of three months of quarantine, with every commercial activity paralysed, and I think especially of the restaurant industry which we hold particularly dear... Instead, after all that happened, when approaching an unprecedented autumn edition, we cannot consider it just a change of dates».

The commitment has become that of presenting the post-Coronavirus phase, discussing the future scenarios for the restaurant industry. "Building a new future", indeed. Marchi continues: «We will conceive the congress in a different way, starting from its digitalisation, because over these months we’ve witnessed a strong development for the Internet, something that was meant to be but which the crisis has certainly accelerated. We were also induced to change theme: initially, this had to be the "sense of responsibility" – a concept that was perfect at the time, if not prophetic – to point out some of the excesses that were affecting the industry. Current events have transformed that sense of responsibility into a given fact for everyone, whether willing or not. And this has to be the foundation from which to start. So the new theme is now "Building a new future", because we have to rethink the entire restaurant industry. There are many developments – starting from delivery – and we must understand what role they can have in the future for an industry that is suffering at the moment, but must return on its feet as soon as possible, and start being remunerative. How long will it be till things are fully running? How can we recuperate our relationship with clients? We’ll discuss this because we will need to find a new “normal” everyday life after these terrible weeks».

An unforeseeable tempest that has questioned conviviality and the relationships and exchanges that took place every day around the table and in front of a dish of fine food. «Now we must start again and rebuild, recuperating first of all the extraordinary values that we’ve given for granted for a long time, and which we now have to reconquer» Claudio Ceroni adds. And he says: «The real social drama that took place all around the world was the destroying of conviviality and of the human relationships that took place around a table. Cuisine is more than a dish, it also implies a cultural exchange. In these months we’ve realised that what we missed wasn’t food, but spending time together. This didn’t apply just to restaurants, but to theatres, music, and so on... The strength of the restaurant industry was allowing people to interact every day. So: when "building a new future" we will need to redefine this lost dimension».

This will not be just a matter of recovering an interrupted discussion: «We’ve always discussed conviviality, but we only understood its crucial role when we lost it. We almost gave it for granted; that’s why we didn’t perceive its importance. From something granted, to something to be reconquered: we now have the chance to recuperate this value, and hence to better appreciate the great work of producers, chefs, pastry chefs, pizzaioli, ice cream makers, dining room staff... At the same time, we have been projected into a new world: there are many elements that did not exist before, or were marginal. We’ve discovered them now and they’re probably here to stay. How many? Which? And how? We will discover this together during the congress because the long tail of the pandemic will induce us to acquire new habits, even positive ones. I have two in mind, above all: the definitive establishment of digital tools, and the longer service hours in restaurants, something that now is a response to the current needs – it helps compensate for the lower number of guests at the same time, due to social distancing – but which can be in fact a fertile opportunity even in the future (it gives the staff a way to offer a more accurate work, just to give an example), especially at a time when with a greater use of smart working we have more flexibility when planning our day».

Identità Golose has always represented a strategic event to assess the state of the art of the international restaurant and gastronomy scene. The next edition of the congress will offer once again the chance to discuss the choices, outlooks and trends that will make the difference and will guide the development of the industry. All this thanks to a stimulating discussion between chefs, pastry-chefs, pizzaioli, ice cream makers, dining room staff, artisans, communication professionals and entrepreneurs who pay attention to relationships, quality and innovation.

Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso