"Practical skills and digital knowledge, entrepreneurial vision and a spirit devoted to eco-sustainability. The year that most questioned the habits and customs of the past, forcing the business world to review business models and to accelerate development paths previously sketched out, leaves as a legacy for 2021 to the universe of sweet foodservice the profile of the professional of tomorrow". This is what emerges from the survey carried out by Sigep observatory, the analysis and comparison hub of the Italian Exhibition Group's international fair, where craftsmanship narrows the boundaries between know-how and know-how to manage, also thanks to new educational horizons, the integration of knowledge and skills.

"In our DNA as trainers of taste professionals, the technical and practical activity has always been closely linked to an entrepreneurial vision", explains Vittorio Santoro , director of Cast Alimenti, a training and updating institute active in Italy based in Brescia. "Only in this way you will be able to acquire skills and have a broader vision also on managerial and organizational branches, to better welcome the challenges of digitalization, communication and eco-sustainable progress. This type of awareness has always been present within our organization . The period has forced the sectors to review models and activities, therefore the need and the demand for training is pressing". Protagonists of pastry like Santi Palazzolo, member of the Italian pastry chef academy (Ampi), testify to the importance of broadening the strategic vision in the light of "a period that is not particular, but unique, with the sector reinventing itself. e-commerce and delivery services, we have diversified our offer by choosing to also market raw materials and not just finished products. During these holidays, we have seen that the customer is also interested in accessory products, useful for making sweets, semi-finished products such as almond paste, candied fruit, pieces of chocolate".

According to Matteo Cunsolo , president of the bakers association of Milan and its province and secretary of Richemont Club Italia, "panettone remains at the top until Epiphany, even in online sales, for which the number of shipments is constantly growing. excellence that brings us back to the normality we need: not surprisingly, the trend we register is one that sees it more and more as a gift". Innovation, therefore, but also enhancement of tradition. To conclude the festivities Gino Fabbri , pastry chef from Bologna and president of the academy of pastry chefs, advises: "In this period we have rediscovered the importance of childhood memories. We offer wild fruit tartlets, pavlova, savarin, diplomats: classics, including the simple Maritozzo. And remember that you can also recover a panettone to be heated in slices, in the oven at 180 degrees, to be served with custard and a sprinkling of cocoa".