Parmigiano Reggiano: the Consortium flies to Dubai for Gulfood, the great international exhibition dedicated to the food industry

For the first time the Consortium has its own booth at B1-34 in Hall 1.

Reggio Emilia, 10 February 2020 – From 16 to 20 February the Consorzio del Parmigiano Reggiano is flying to Dubai for Gulfood, the great international exhibition dedicated to the food industry that every year attracts more than 5 thousand exhibitors and 100 thousand visitors from more than 200 countries. For the first time, the Consortium is exhibiting with its own booth (in previous editions, it shared the booth with Afidop), at B1-34 in Hall 1 of the Dubai World Trade Center.

The Gulf is a strategic area for Italian agri-food products, partly because it is an access door to Middle-Eastern countries, but especially because it includes countries with the highest per-capita incomes in the world. These markets are expected to increase their importance as a result of Expo Dubai 2020 - inauguration on 20 October 2020 - where a flow of 25 million visitors is forecast.

The participation at Gulfood is part of a three-year project promoted by the Consortium to develop the potentials of the Gulf area market, starting from 105 tons of product exported there in 2018. A Hirux/Nielsen research specifically commissioned by the Consortium highlighted that consumers confuse Parmigiano Reggiano with generic Parmesan. This is confirmed by the fact that Parmigiano Reggiano accounts only for 30% of the turnover of hard cheese in the three target countries (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), whereas Parmesan accounts for 70%.

“The Consortium strategy – states the Consortium President Nicola Bertinelli - aims at educating Arab consumers about the specific features of Parmigiano Reggiano, a cheese that stands out for the selection of the best ingredients, for being 100% natural, and for having used the same recipe for a thousand years”.

The first step of the project mentioned by Bertinelli coincides with the launch of a large-scale advertising campaign in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait: the first commercial was aired on the channels Pan Arab and Pan Asia at the end of 2019, whereas the next commercial will be on air at the end of 2020. At the same time, a web campaign was started on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram to attract as many consumers as possible, including the numerous expats that account for 70% of the population in Dubai.

Press info: Fabrizio Raimondi – raimondi@parmigianoreggiano.it – 335 389848