The 20th edition of Cibus, the international food exhibition, has been rescheduled for next year, from May 4 to 7, 2021. The decision, taken by Fiere di Parma and Federalimentare, has been mutually agreed with ITA – Italian Trade Agency and the businesses of the Italian agri-food supply chain. An international forum entitled "Cibus Forum – Food & Beverage Sector and Covid: From Transition to Transformation" will be held in Parma in September, later this year. While in the next few days, an innovative digital Sourcing and Business Matching platform, called “My Business Cibus” will be launched.
Regarding the event, initially rescheduled for September 2020, we recognised the absence of the necessary conditions able to guarantee the qualitative and quantitative outcome of the incoming programme, especially in terms of international trade operators, and as a consequence to meet the expectations of our exhibitors, stakeholders, and institutional partners. Considering the role of Cibus as the reference event for the promotion of the “Authentic Italian Food & Beverage” in the eyes of the international community of agri-food players, a downsized edition of the 20th International Food Exhibition does not seem an acceptable solution.
The forum will take place in Parma from September 2 to 3, 2020. To what extent have consumer behaviours changed since the Covid-19 emergency? How will the labour market be reorganised? What actions will need to be put in place to recover production and export of the agri-food sector? Industry stakeholders and national and international experts will meet for a collaborative consultation on future scenarios. The forum will be held at the Fiere di Parma exhibition centre, in a pavilion that in light of Covid-19 has been restructured specifically to host a limited number of guests and key speakers in a safe way and in compliance with the most advanced safety & security standards. The forum will also be streamed live.
While waiting for the next edition of the event, Fiere di Parma together with Federalimentare, have set up an innovative online platform, "My Business Cibus", which will allow commercial operators to carry out thorough searches and select all Cibus exhibitors’ products, including the latest innovations. All the products that the companies publish on their websites have been indexed and grouped. This will give national and international buyers the possibility of choosing, in an easy and quick way, from amongst almost 200,000 products offered by 3,000 companies.