QUALITALY

books,” says Francesco Streda of the

Imàgo in Rome – “but initially I did it

more for the glory than anything else.

You are paid according to the amount

of copies sold and it is well-known

that in Italy traditional publishing is

in crisis.” In addition there are the

blogs. Many have them but few have

managed to turn them into a business.

Among these is Sonia Peronaci,

inventor of “Giallo Zafferano”, which

a decade ago was the first site to

specialize in recipes. Following

the sale of the site to Banzai, her

transformation into a star (with

broadcasts on TV) and eventually

the painful divorce from the site that

made her well-known, turning herself

into a gold mine. But many other

chef blogs float along with neither

infamy nor praise. Finally there are the

partnerships. Companies that pay, or

at least provide, the product for free in

exchange for the visibility offered by

the chef who maybe also has a local

reputation. Recently, the transmission

of RaiTre “Report” told how some

well-known chefs are pushed to prefer

a famous Italian grating cheese at the

expense of a better known one

and to dedicate dishes or whole menus

in exchange for payment. In Italian

cuisine this is survival.

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AND INVOICED BY SMALL

BUSINESS

Every important chef is a real money

machine, who leads a multi-million

annual turnover company. La Ca.Pri

of Antonino Cannavacciuolo, in

2015 invoiced € 5,229,123, the fruit

not so much of the revenues of the

restaurant Villa Crespi in Orta San

Giulio, as for the role of Chef of

MasterChef, of conducting “Cucine

da Incubo (Nightmare Kitchens)”

produced by Endemol Italia along

with dozens of events, consultancies

and appearances. La Alajmo Spa

owned by the brothers who run the

three-starred restaurant Le Calandre

di Rubano invoices over 11 million

Euros, the Franciscana srl of Massimo

Bottura 4.4 million, the R.R. srl of

Niko Romito 2.7 million and the Da

Vittorio srl of the Cerea brothers

of the homonymous Brusaporto

restaurant, in Bergamo, over 11

million.

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STAR ADVERTISING...

The relationship between cooks

and advertising has always been

controversial. Many famous chefs

have lent their face to advertising:

Sonia Peronaci for a famous brand

of industrial cheeses, Carlo Cracco

for potato crisps and for a furniture

store, Cannavacciuolo for a Dop

cheese, Davide Oldani for even a

telecommunications company. We

are resentful because these products

are sometimes very far from the

sentiments of the chefs who put a

face to them. But there is also envy

behind it. “I find nothing unbecoming

in the fact that a chef makes a spot –

says Francesco Apreda – and I would

also do it if they asked me. If Cracco

advertises potato crisps, in reality

he brings fine dining to the general

public, bridging a gap.”

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AT PAGE 20

A restaurant in step

with the times

The future? Promote correct

lifestyles, as part of new food trends

By Elena Consonni

By absorbing 35% of household

food spending in our country,

catering represents a mirror of the

most current food trends. This was

confirmed by a research on the

evolution of Italian food styles in

the last 20 years, presented by Fipe

during the event TUTTOFOOD

2017. Since 1995, trends have

emerged, such as the decline in the

proportion of people consuming

carbohydrates daily (from 91.5% in

1995 to 80.9% in 2015) and proteins,

and the increase of those who prefer

vegetables (from 41.8% in 1995 to

45.5% in 2015) and those who pay

attention to the consumption of salt.

However, the share of the population

that consumes fruit at least once a

day (from 82.2% in 1995 to 75.4%

in 2015) is also down, as are those

who use olive oil and vegetable fats

for cooking and especially for raw

dressings.

These behaviours are partly

reflected in the extra-domestic food

expenditure: Fipe detects the strong

decline of meat (despite the opening

of numerous specialized restaurants),

the use of salt and butter. The

consumption of vegetables grows

significantly, while too little attention

to fruit is confirmed. However, the

consumption of first courses remains,

in particular pasta, and desserts,

linked to the pleasure of conviviality.

The increase in food intolerances,

allergies and metabolic diseases means

that catering is increasingly geared

to give consumers answers to these

problems. Over two thirds of the

restaurants interviewed declare to have