Terra Madre…Salone Internationale del Gusto

The main reason Linda and I wanted to be in Torino in late October was to visit “Salone Internationale del Gusto…Terra Madre” which is organised by the Slow Food Movement.

This organisation has come a long way since Carlo Petrini objected to McDonalds setting up a store in Rome and felt something needed to be done to promote local foods. This organisation has a movement in many countries around the world, but its home is Italy and this show is the largest food show of its kind in the world.

Linda and I were unsure how much time to allocate to this show, we decided on two days and should probably have allocated three. Having said that the crowds did get to both of us and we wondered whether we could have coped with a third day.

The top learning points from the show for all retailers

1. Cardboard furniture is a new trend that can be used in many locations and situation

2. Promote local and be specific. The narrower the product with a local story the more niche you can become.

3. Pallets are a new tool to use when designating areas for design, pop up retailing or just as a retail prop.

4. Slow Cities or Cittaslow. The objective of “Slow Cities” is more than to promote local food. The aim is to use modern technology whilst retaining the spirit of the community.

Towns become certified based on 71 requirements that include energy and environmental policies, infrastructure policies, transport, quality of urban life, hospitality and agricultural policies

and so on…

This is an ideal part of a “Home town” development and information can be obtained from www.cittaslow.net

5. Involvement of children. Children were involved in the show with designated areas for children to play. This is the first time I have seen so much space at a show designated to keeping the children entertained. It worked and I wonder if we should be investing more time ad space to children in our businesses.