Qualitaly_116

APR. MAG. 2020 I AT PAGE 1 Nothing can stop... this breaking wave! “Remember: almost always the biggest opportunities come in our life in the form of problems.” I begin my very difficult editorial from this phrase by John Powell. Why this quote? Some people are going to think I want to set a tone. Actually, it’s the exact opposite. When we suddenly found ourselves in ‘lockdown’ - I admit it, and I’m not ashamed of it - I had days of total loss. I, always positive, smiling and enthusiastic about everything, got lost. I couldn’t understand the meaning of everything that was happening to us. I am someone who thinks that everything happens for a precise reason, and that there is always a logical explanation. Well, this time, even though I was rambling on hypothetical conjectures, nothing, the answer was always negative. But I did not give up and, at a certain point, I came across this sentence which, I admit, I did not know before. A light immediately came on. So, I said to myself, this is the sentence to start from! To live this moment as an opportunity. Of course, it’s not easy knowing how deep a crisis our sector has sunk into. But history teaches us that it is from the deepest crises that ideas and strategies were born... that have revolutionised our existence. Many of us in recent days have radically changed the way we work: we have made home deliveries, we have made ourselves available to the Civil Protection to deliver ingredients to those who could not leave home, we have improved our portals to promote e-commerce ... I believe that from this ‘bad’ experience each of us will come out better and with new ideas to generate new business. This is also true for our customers who, certainly, are suffering more than us because of the tight public lockdown. Many have expressed themselves clearly on how they see the future of the hospitality sector. You can read it in the report on page 22, which gathered the most important names in the Italian haute cuisine scene: from Pietro Leemann to Cristina Bowerman, from Niko Romito to Viviana Varese... Of course, we are not expecting an easy period. From 01 June (when the lockdown will be relaxed also for the public sector), we will have to maintain our focus to avoid falling back into a pandemic. And then there will be new business models to bring to the sector: from delivery to take away (service p. 14), from ice-cream vendors (service p. 44) to communication (service p. 36). The price to pay is high, we are all aware of this. And the Government AT PAGE 2 Wholesalers and suppliers. Let’s team up! 26 April. Premier Giuseppe Conte announces that bars and restaurants will not reopen before 01 June (from 04 May the possibility to buy take-away food by reservation is allowed). A discouraging scenario, considering that Italy is not in the same way compromised with respect to the presence of the virus and there are several realities that at this time, with the closure of the regions both in departure and in arrival, have a situation that could favour an early restart with respect to the most compromised areas. If, then, the Government’s objective is ‘misery loves company’, then - once again - we will have to wait in silence MAGAZINE Traduzione a cura di Christopher Farley