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APR. MAY 2018
VI
MAGAZINE
AT PAGE 18
IN DEPTH
Food without
boundaries
The Italian food industry is investing
more and more in the training of
human resources. Schools and
universities of applied sciences offer
them academic contributions.
But they are not the only ones
By Alessandro Vergallo
Today the food and wine market to
be at the forefront has become more
demanding and performing.
The customer needs continuous
answers that arise from everyday
life and the companies involved,
therefore, must be able to inform
him, perhaps, anticipating trends
that could contribute to a faster
development of activities.
Food continues to preserve its
functional nutritional characteristics
but for some decades it has been ripe
enough to broaden its horizons. Just
look at the secotors which, until a few
years ago, were foreign to its world:
communication, training and design.
Italian food and wine industries,
therefore, in order to be competitive,
dare to cross their territorial borders,
entering into, if necessary, partnerships
with similar businesses or with
institutions, universities and qualified
academies of the food and wine sector.
A systemic, global world, whose
aspects ranges from production
to processing, from promotion to
marketing. The new professional
figures are born in this parterre and,
fully qualified, they become part of
the Italian cuisine industry, renowned
all over the world.
A dynamic universe, in continuous
evolution, which is currently one
of the driving sectors of the Italian
economy. That is why companies are
expanding their borders and opening
the doors to new sectors, spending
a massive amount of their time on
training human resources.
Academies and schools specialising
in food and beverage, on the other
hand, offer their teaching support,
filling in gaps where companies are
found to be loss-making.
BEYOND TRAINING
The Master Course in Food Design
and Innovation at the Politecnica
School of Design in Milan produces
more than 30 Italian and overseas
professionals every year. It has an
annual period and requires a total
commitment of 1500 hours per
student, including lessons, exercises,
internships and individual study.
Antonello Fusetti, Director of the
Master, looking at the concept of the
course, says “I think that today, in
a company it is no longer enough
to have a marketing manager or put
together only food technologists and
chefs, we need to go further. These
- specifies Fusetti - represent only
a part of the food and wine chain
- agro-food. So, to obtain the mass
from our resources but also from
the figures with whom we interact -
concludes Fusetti - it is necessary to
combine the skills of marketing and
communication with the sensitivity
and design methodology of design.”
The new specialist students of the
Milan course are all established
professionals who, already during
their didactic path, had the
opportunity to compare themselves
with gurus and top managers of
important industrial groups that
currently collaborate with the School:
Pepsico, COOP, Whirlpool, NaturaSì
and Cioccolati Italiani.
Qualified teachers, entrepreneurs,
managers, chefs, food critics,
designers and architects, in the
classroom, daily guarantee students
exclusive skills in the nine research
areas proposed by the school: food
design, food tools, food spaces,
packaging, communication, events,
food and tourism, food service design
and digital food.
“For us, the combination of food
and design is a way of conveying
change and development in the
two sectors. For this reason - ends
Antonello Fusetti - we must continue
to promote the individual excellences
of creativity, industry and training,
encouraging them to collaborate with
each other.” Today many companies,
especially large ones, such as for
example Amorim Cork, Portuguese,
world leader in the production of
cork stoppers, rely on a diversified
mixed training, using preceptors
inside and outside the group.
Each section follows a different
training protocol. Carlos Santos,
Managing Director of Amorin Cork
Italia, says “Our programme includes
not only the review of daily case
studies, but also the preparation of
factors related to the knowledge and
consolidation of psycho-attitude.
Our training - adds the managing
director of Amorim - also focuses
on aspects that are collateral to
our activity and that allow us to
improve the characteristics of the
people within the company. In my
opinion, therefore, in order to quickly
reach the set objectives - continues
Santos - it is better that the training
is differentiated for each unit, taking
into account both the product and the
processes involved in the activity.
In recent years Amorim Cork Italia
has recorded about 40,000 hours
dedicated to training activities. The
time necessary to identify a number
of talents. Some of these are designed
to follow particular paths, such as
CORK.TALENT, a part of the company