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Februar y/March 202 2 XIV MAGAZINE What now, one might say? Is the bubble about to burst or will it grow again? What does this 2022 bring us that we can already see is in great need of sweetness? We asked two big names, Luigi Biasetto and Gianluca Fusto. LUIGI BIASETTO: GREEN AND BACK TO BASICS I see products that are increasingly green, from the ingredient to the packaging: everything that revolves around the product must have the least environmental impact. After touching on unjustified aesthetic extremes in recent years, often linked only to Instagrammability, we are returning to the essentials, to normality: the great classics are reassuring and at this time the customer has a great need to be reassured . This is reflected in the choice of shapes, colours and ingredients. The shapes are simple, soft and we no longer see unnatural and excessive fluorescent colours. The ingredient speaks of excellence without reservation. The future of confectionery confirms the trend highlighted at the start of the pandemic with a return to the great classics adapted to today’s taste and even greater attention to the excellence of the ingredients. We continue to make tiramisu but with fresh mascarpone, espresso coffee and the best cocoa. People find relief in the usual products, but made well , and are willing to spend more, perhaps buying less, as long as it’s a quality product. It seems that the era of clever people producing low quality products without the knowledge of the end customer is over. GIANLUCA FUSTO: A REVOLUTION IN CUSTOMER SERVICE Customers are looking for something new, every time they treat themselves to a dessert they want it to be a gastronomic discovery linked to the territory and the seasons. Each product must have a recognisable taste and a storytelling: it is no longer enough to talk about aesthetics because the customer arrives at the confectioner’s and already knows what he wants in terms of design because he has already seen the Instagram profile. Time management is different, you take the time to think of a small gesture for your loved ones. The future of confectionery It’s in important customer service, we have to learn from the big names in fashion and catering how to create an experience in reception, service and packaging. We are trying to create a new way of relating and selling to the customer , focusing on relationships of trust. We make the products at the moment, in a glass cube in complete transparency, the customer decides what to get and after a few minutes his cake arrives directly from the laboratory. In this way the cake is 100% fresh: taking the time to do something for him means making him feel important, no longer a number. We offer coffee, it costs very little but in the vision of hospitality it has enormous value. I am sorry that we still talk about food design or icing without understanding that the dynamic has changed. The future is in following the customers, the experience is priceless. AT PAGE 48-53 ON THE ROAD Salento. An explosion of flavours A LAND WHERE MEDITERRANEAN BLENDS WITH ARAB, GREEK AND OTTOMAN CUISINE by Alessandro Vergallo Italian cuisine is culture, well-being and conviviality. Our country, thanks to its history, its different climates, preserves an infinite quantity of ingredients and recipes that an encyclopaedia would not be enough to publish. And along these lines, Qualitaly has decided to inaugurate a new space, a virtual culinary tour where the stars of food & beverage are the Italian entrepreneurs, restaurateurs and chefs who, thanks to their backgrounds, tell the story of the various local Italian realities. Let’s start with Salento, the easternmost strip of land in southern Italy, which includes the province of Lecce and parts of the provinces of Brindisi and Taranto. Here, Mediterranean culinary culture blends with Arabic, Greek and Ottoman. The flavours of the land combine well with those of the sea: from durum wheat flour to pulses and wild and cultivated vegetables , from beef to the more common meats of chicken, rabbit, pork, lamb and horse , from oily fish to shellfish and mussels. Daniela Montinaro , chef of the Le Macare (The Witches) restaurant in Alezio, is the first narrator of our journey. Daniela Montinaro,