Pastry has entered the realm of quick catering, where it assumes an increasingly key, differentiated and personalised role in the menu of any locale. Confirming this is the success of the initiatives addressed to this area, such as Extraordinariamente Host, the series of events at HostMilano where the world of award-winning chefs meets other professional figures of Ho.Re.Ca. to come up with creative, innovative proposals.
“Cuisine, its rules, and the changing tastes that characterise it, have always been a cultural language through which a society represents its history and its characteristics,” commented Barbara Castiglione, FIP Representative for Liguria and member of the Pastry Excellence Team of FIP Italian Pastry Federation. “Culinary trends go above and beyond the nutritional needs of each individual. By organising the Pastry and Cake Design World Championship, which will take place from 23 to 27 October 2015 at HostMilano and on the occasion of Expo 2015, the International Federation of Pastry, Chocolate, and Ice Cream has aimed to take on challenges not only in the industry but also cultural which feature in our segment. Thirty-due teams of professionals from all points of the globe will square off on the stage of Fiera Milano, moving between technological innovation and creative interpretation of classic recipes of pastry and each of them will carry, through their creations, of a cultural vision of taste.”
The dynamic is included in a more general trend of public operations through “multi-specialisation”, as explained by Carlo Meo, expert of the Ho.Re.Ca. format and professor of the Consorzio POLI.design of the Politecnico di Milano, which organises the recognitions of Host Smart Label (sustainability) and HOSThinking (innovative design) in conjunction with HostMilano. “On the part of the operations, we are seeing a pursuit of the trend toward multi-specialisation, namely, specialisation drafted in order to satisfy the various opportunities of consumption continue to increase the desire and need to experience consumption outside of the home.
“With the increasing overlap between work and life, free time is perceived as extremely important,” continued Meo. “The consumer, including when this means a few minutes, aims to experience them in most pleasant way possible not only related to the product, but the entire experience. Today, to meet the increasing needs of a discriminating consumer, the traditional bar is becoming more specialised, especially by recovering the historic concept of a coffee house on the one hand, and on the other, focusing on the premium ice cream and pastry segment.”