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OCT. NOV. 2021 III LOWER LABOUR COSTS At the time of writing, the 2022 Budget Law has not yet been defined, but it is nevertheless interesting to analyse the associations’ requests. Starting from a central point: labour reform, “a crucial challenge for the relaunch of the Italian restaurant industry: we need new rules, in step with the times, that combine sustainability, ethics and improve the possibility of the offer”. The associations call for recognition of the special characteristics of work in hospitality, “not comparable to other environments to which it is now assimilated”, the reduction of the tax burden and the reintroduction of vouchers. To do this it will also be necessary to reorganize the ATECO codes “no longer responsive to current market requirements and that need an organic reform, outlining exactly what is catering and what is not” with the creation of a business register that represents an incubator of reforms, such as tax breaks to encourage the use of electronic currency “a transparent tool aimed at countering the phenomenon of tax evasion” and a regulatory intervention to counter the phenomenon of the no show “which generates daily losses with peaks of 20%”. Graziano Debellini , president of Hotelturist , spoke to Pambianco Hotellerie about the employment issue, uncovering the theme of excessively low wages in hospitality and making a request: less taxes and higher salaries. “We need to rethink the pay model and increase salaries, first of all respecting national employment contracts. In this sector the marginality is low, it is up to the State to change the taxes on tourism work. We have a tax burden that puts us at a disadvantage compared to other European countries.” AID FOR GREEN TRANSACTION Another “hot” topic passed around the table is the use of levers such as the Green Deal, in which the restaurateur can play a role by informing and training the client towards more aware and balanced food systems, with particular attention to short supply chain and eco-sustainable food regimes, enhancing, also with the involvement of the ministries concerned, products with low environmental impact, organic, sustainable and short supply chain. Also in the spotlight is the involvement of the restaurant sector in the NRRP [the National Recovery and Resilience Plan within the Next Generation EU , the 750-billion-euro package agreed by the EU in response to the pandemic crisis, ed. ] Lastly, the associations are asking for the Catering Fund to be made structural by creating a ministerial office dedicated to sector and supply chain policies to maintain a permanent dialogue with the institutions. In short, “the ideas are there, the Government will have the commitment to make them concrete,” said Carlo Cracco, Ambassador of Taste. “Now, more than ever, we need an action to relaunch the sector to allow it to fully assume the role of flywheel for the entire Italian agri-food sector, being an integral part of the supply chain and constituting the point of contact with the final consumer,” concluded Cristina Bowerman, President of ADG. HEALTHIER AND MORE DEMOCRATIC CATERING Undoubtedly, the pandemic has created a new awareness, even among star chefs who are more accustomed to reflection like Niko Romito, who presented his idea of the future of the sector at Identità Golose 2021. “Usually, cultural changes are not sudden. But the pandemic has triggered a rapid process of change, the world is already different from the one we knew at the beginning of 2020,” he began. According to Romito, training will therefore be foremost, but it will have to be rethought and updated according to certain guidelines that have the flavour of a cultural revolution. First of all, health, which must become central to the strategy of the chef of the future “called to pursue a continuous balance between palate satisfaction and nutritional balance”. Then the relationship with industry : “we need to ensure that industrial processes change” by focusing on a “standardization” but for this very reason more “democratic” high quality and “we chefs are the ones who can allow the industry to make this leap, exploiting the skills, knowledge and research we carry out”. Finally, the sustainability of collective catering too, which totals large numbers. And the return to the restaurant of “poor” products: onion, artichoke, cabbage, cauliflower, bread, “using the selection of quality, research and processing techniques to make an inexpensive ingredient great”. The future therefore passes (also) through a return to the essence of Italian cuisine. MANAGEMENT CONTROL IS ESSENTIAL Food waste, prices randomly assigned or by looking at the competition, hypertrophic menus: the list of sins of pre-pandemic catering is a long one. If we have learned one thing, it’s that a restaurant is a business and cannot do without careful management control. Joe Bastianich, more entrepreneur than chef, talked about it in connection with Identità Golose. Together with his partner Sandro Feole , business consultant, he has defined a method for the management of economic but also human costs of the restaurant. Organized in three steps: the cost control on the purchase of ingredients, the control on the time and quality of people’s time and, finally, the control on how to attract customers. The two pillars on which the restaurant of the future will rest? Responsibility and authenticity. WHAT ABOUT THE WOMEN? THEY MAKE COMMUNITY A new course, that of the restaurant industry, which cannot be implemented Chef Carlo Cracco, Minister Stefano Patuanelli, Alessandra Todde, chef Cristina Bowerman and the President of the Italian Chefs Federation, Rocco Pezzulo