Italian food and beverage continues to climb the world rankings, and it comes out on top in the U.S. where Italy, behind Mexico and Canada, is the third country from which the U.S. imports the most food and beverage products, and it is precisely to Italian excellence that the fifth edition of the "Authentic Italian Food & Wine Festival" event will be dedicated.

This is an export with a considerable value of as much as $7.3 billion, with which Italian food & beverage in the U.S. surpassed France in 2023, ousting it from the podium of the largest suppliers. Thus, our country fights against so-called "Italian sounding" - products that recall Italian typicality in their names while being packaged overseas -, and Americans show that they are learning to distinguish and prefer originals.

Thus, to give visibility to Italian food and wine excellence in the important marketplace of Miami, the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce Southeast (IACCSE), the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Miami, is organizing "Authentic Italian Food & Wine Festival," which will be held on May 14 and 15 in the spaces of the Country Club of Coral Gables, where 150 Florida importers, distributors, restaurateurs and chefs will participate in two days of meetings, seminars, product tasting and networking with Italian companies.

Florida in particular is proving to be an increasingly interesting market: with a value of $3.89 billion in 2023, Italian exports to this state are growing at a very high rate (+12 percent compared to 2022), more than the already sustained average of Italy-U.S. exports, which grew by +5.4 percent, touching $72.9 billion in total.

In Italy's exports to the U.S. in the agri-food sector, it is wine that leads the way, touching a value of $2.1 billion in 2023. Olive oil is confirmed as a synonym of Italian quality with 706 million in exports, and in third position are sauces and other food preparations, amounting to 633 million. The fourth best-selling commodity type overseas is pasta ($597 million), fifth is cheese (468 million), sixth place is baked goods (445 million), and seventh is water (309 million). Eighth position for canned vegetables (302 million), ninth for spirits (256 million) and tenth for processed meats (240 million). Another characteristic Made in Italy product, coffee, ranks 11th with $137 million in exports.

At the fifth edition of the "Authentic Italian Food & Wine Festival," the first day, Tuesday, May 14, will be dedicated to orientation activities: an initial orientation meeting, with an introduction to the Florida market and testimonials from Italian companies already present in this market, followed by a guided tour of gourmet markets and large-scale retail outlets in Miami, concluding with a networking dinner with diplomatic authorities and selected importers and distributors who will illustrate the latest market trends. The second day, Wednesday, May 15, will be entirely dedicated to promotional and commercial activities: two seminars, dedicated to food & beverage on cruise ships and to Miami's high quality catering, will be followed by a Trade session, with meetings between exhibitors and professional visitors in the expo area, and then concluding the two days with the Grand Tasting, the event that opens its doors to an audience of food lovers, at which selected restaurants, pastry shops and ice cream parlors will offer tastings to visitors.