The inaugural Mapic Food & Beverage (F&B) event, held in Milan, has been deemed a success after combining with Mapic Italy to attract over 2,000 participants, according to organisers Reed Midem.
Taking place at MiCo - Milano Congressi, the event included 82 stands and over 800 national and international retailers, representing 180 brands.
'Mapic Italy has confirmed its leading position in the retail real estate in Italy,' said Nathalie Depetro, director of Mapic.
'The timing was perfect for a dedicated Mapic event for the food and beverage sector. One fifth of foodservice visits occur in retail locations and levels are rising, that is data we need to pay attention to,' Depetro added.
F&B focus
In contrast to Mapic in Cannes, international F&B retailers populated the venue as exhibitors while real estate professionals attended as visitors.
In its first year, Mapic F&B sold out its exhibition space, allowing Italian and international companies with F&B concepts to promote themselves, including Delifrance, Foodation, Rinaldini Pastry, Caffè Napoli, Dante’s, Wok to Walk and Nordsee. Visiting F&B brands included Jamie Oliver Group, Café Rouge, Five Guys, Starbucks and KFC.
'At this inaugural edition of Mapic F&B, I was delighted to see such a vibrant mix of F&B retailers mingling with developers and master franchise companies and sampling the new F&B concepts that lead the future dining trends around the world,' said Depetro.
On the hunt for stand-out concepts at Mapic F&B were leading landlords and investors including Union Investment, Westfield, Intu, United Developers/Place Vendome, Iran Mall, Allied Investments and Housing Private Limited, CP Group, Capitaland, Capital Holdings and Inmuebles Panamericana S.A.
Mapic Italy 2018
Meanwhile, Mapic Italy welcomed key players in the industry including CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, JLL, Aedes, Ece, Eurocommercial, IGD, Svicom, Sonae Sierra, Klépierre, Falcon Malls, and Westfield.
In addition to the Italian companies attending Mapic Italy, the event welcomed international developers and brands that have demonstrated a strong interest in Italy.
'Italy is a country we have been looking at for some time, with a market that offers great potential,' said Francesco Zhou, head of development of the Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi. 'With a view to pursuing an all-round strategy of expansion in Europe, we intend to consolidate our presence with a programme of opening physical stores in Italy, followed by Spain and France.'
'Today the shopping centre sector is a mature product, requiring different responses from the past. The numbers speak of a solid market that is not afraid of the threat of online, increasingly oriented towards multi-channel and shopping centres that become more and more privileged places of entertainment, sociality and feelings of belonging,' concluded Massimo Moretti, president of the Italian National Council of Shopping Centres (CNCC).
Mapic F&B 2019 and Mapic Italy will take place during Milano Food City 2019 on 8-9 May.
