He coordinates “FIERE IN RETE” of AEFI – the Italian Association of Expos and Exhibitions, a project where he promotes the networking of exhibition centers. As entrepreneur, he is former President of the local Industrial Association and former President of Finest SPA, a company that supports international projects of firms based in North-East Italy towards the neighboring emerging markets. He was part of the Technical Committee of EXPO MILAN 2015 as Internationalisation specialist.
This year’s event, we are sure you can confidently say, has been a resounding success. Are you happy with how AquaFarm has performed this year?
This event has been a great success in such a short amount of time – just three years. We have been deepening our interest within aquaculture, as well as the world of farmers, free water, technologies, research and trends and are studying constantly what is happening in the sector to predict and unroll the near future.
Do you know the statistics for this year’s event?
We have registered a 22 percent increase compared to our last year edition, and we can surely say that in coming years this trend is going to be even more important and great.
What are your plans for next years event? Is there anything in addition that you would like AquaFarm to carry out or cover?
We have been presenting here fishing and fish farming of the best quality available so far, but our aim is to present this quality further to the market by introducing a finished product section within AquaFarm: this is what sharing knowledge means to us.
We would love to find out more about you as well. What got you involved, personally, with the aquaculture industry, and made you want to help create such a unique event?
In terms of my love for water, I am a scuba diver hence I love and respect the sea, but I am also a businessperson. What I love most about this exhibition is that it brings together the love for animals and the future – here the breeders and producers love their animals, preserve and take care of them while guaranteeing the sustainability of food production in the future and its quality.
Italy, thanks to a favourable law, pays great attention on animals’ feed, which certifies a high quality finished product and I firmly consider aquaculture and sustainable fishing as one of the most important way to guarantee food in future years.
What we are trying to do, as Pordenone Fiere, is trying to elevate consciousness on challenges ahead and how to improve and solve them by giving space and time to discuss these topics. We have chosen our best staff to create an event that satisfies these needs.
What do you think is the biggest issue that the aquaculture industry will face in the next five years, and what can we do to combat and resolve these issues?
The main challenge for us is to keep taking care of aquaculture, and our role is to make this event more and more important in the future to increase awareness both in Italy and in foreign countries.
Aquaculture sometimes suffers from quite a negative image, due to pollution and sustainability issues. What do you think we can do to prove to the consumer that aquaculture is, in fact, a very sustainable and positive industry?
Well aquaculture is a peculiar type of food production, which has the least impacts on CO2 emissions, meaning that it is already one of the most caring way to think of food production for the future.
We have also here exhibiting the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, (FAO) and during the presentation of AquaFarm one of their representatives within the European Ministry of Agriculture has stated that aquaculture products are going to be one of the greatest quality products that future generations will be consuming with very low environmental impact.
Do you think aquaculture will continue to focus on a small spectrum of profitable species, such as salmon, fin fish, crustaceans such as shrimp and molluscs or do you see a need for growing diversity in the coming years?
Universities are studying the life cycles of a variety of species, so they will research further and understand which the best way is to improve and protect each and every species and guarantee the best quality within each of them.
How important do you believe networking at events such as these are for the future of the industry?
Here shareholders are in the right place to share their knowledge and studies: this is the place where farmers and industries meet. Farmers know their fishes, so they know what quality needs to be achieved and guaranteed, whereas the industry sector has the best solutions to guarantee their health.
We have also this great calendar of conferences and seminars, where all the best speakers, professors and researchers give their opinions, discuss their results and showcase their knowledge on future trends, challenges and opportunities all together in the same place.
There is certainly an opportunity to expand this exhibition throughout the Mediterranean, where currently there are not many events like this. Will you expand into areas like Spain and France, within this Mediterranean area?
Since last year, we have started creating basis for cooperation with countries facing the Mediterranean. We hold a partnership with Finest S.p.a. - a company that supports international projects of firms based in North-East Italy towards emerging markets. We have partnered AquaFarm with Finest S.p.a. to help it expand towards the Mediterranean area.
We joined this partnership to make sure that we gather all the best producers and figures in the market and involving the members and the councils of these countries, where our mission is to ensure they visit us in the coming years and grow together in this collaboration.
Last year we hosted a delegation from South Africa and this year a delegation of Ivory Coast. Our event is surely not stopping from becoming more and more international every year.
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