Pizza in the Olympus of national and international cuisine, identifying the art of the Neapolitan pizza maker as an expression of a unique and timeless culture. And it is with the pizzerias closed, almost all over Italy because of the infamous Covid-risk zones, that International Pizza Day was celebrated on 17th January, choosing the date dedicated on the calendar to Saint Anthony Abbot, protector of those who work with fire and patron saint of pizza makers. This gave rise to the idea of establishing a new the World Pizza Day, with a campaign promoted by Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio to which ITA0039 adhered, without hesitation.
Until now only an event in the prerogative of the City of Naples, which deserves true recognition at international level, together with 7th December, the world day of the Art of Neapolitan “Pizzaiuolo” as an intangible Cultural Heritage. . A symbolic date to pay homage to the art that has made the most basic dough one of the most appreciated, widespread and imitated works of art in the Made in Italy gastronomic tradition.
As it was predictable, given the situation, 44% of Italians enjoyed their pizza at home. This is what emerges from a survey conducted on the website www.coldiretti.it.
A crack estimated at least 5 billion in 2020, which jeopardises the future of 63,000 pizzerias with about 200,000 employees in Italy. The supply chain is on its knees, considering that every year pizzerias use an estimated 400 million kilos of flour, 225 million kilos of mozzarella, 30 million kilos of olive oil and 260 million kilos of tomato sauce.
Meanwhile, 9.6 billion euros were burned on wine and food due to the closures and restrictions imposed in 2020 on bars, restaurants, trattorias, pizzerias and farmhouses. For some sectors, particularly the high-end seafood and wine sectors, catering is the main marketing channel in terms of turnover, but there has also been significant turnover damage for cured meats, cheeses and truffles.
“We therefore need immediate relief and a national plan that is able to implement all the necessary actions to prevent the closure of catering activities such as pizzerias, in some cases, true embassies of the Italian spirit of our country, especially abroad. – Says Fabrizio Capaccioli, MD of ASACERT and creator of ITA0039 – And it is also the real Italian pizzerias that the ITA0039 Protocol takes care of, with its certified protection, in partnership with Coldiretti, FAI and the support of ANRA, IFSE and PROMOItalia. The Protocol protects the entire Italian food chain, from production to culinary processing of the raw material, promotes Italian food excellence and its interconnection, and fights again the phenomenon of food counterfeiting and Italian Sounding. We want to make real Italian products from a short and certified supply chain available to restaurateurs and customers in search of genuine and healthy food products from our country. Thanks to our App, consumers become direct sentinels of the protection of real Made in Italy in the world and we are very proud of that!”
The ITA0039 App is a further piece of the great project conceived by ASACERT, a certification and inspection body with twenty years of experience, with offices in Milan, Rome, Bari, as well as corporate offices and a dense network of partners around the world. ASACERT is a Certification and Inspection Body accredited by ACCREDIA, UKAS and EIAC, notified by the European Community and authorized by the Ministries of Economic Development, Infrastructure and Transport and Production Activities.
