The long awaited Calabrian mission in Houston just finished and the Italy America Chamber of Commerce is proud to say that it was a success; the mission brought to Texas a group of representatives from Calabria which presented their products, mainly wines and olive oils, to a group of eager Texan importers, distributors and retailers.
The mission started in the morning of Thursday the 9th, when the Italian entrepreneurs had the opportunity to display their refined products in the amazing location offered by Hotel Granduca in Houston. The group of Italian representatives was composed by three winemakers, one olive oil manufacturer and one canned food producer. This little food and wine fair was visited during the whole day by the owners and representatives of several local businesses, which seemed actually amazed by the opportunity of tasting the big variety of products brought from Italy and talk personally with their producers. The ‘business to business’ meetings were really interesting for both producers and Texas locals, and gave them the chance to talk about future plans for co-operation and partnerships.
The day was concluded with an enjoyable gala dinner held in the same amazing location and several typical courses and wines from Calabria were offered to the guests. In addition to the Italian manufacturers and the Texan representatives the banquet was attended by various important personalities linked to the mission; among them there were the Italian Counsel General Fabrizio Nava, the well-known Italian scientist Mauro Ferrari, the Regional Council Member from Calabria Luigi Fedele, the Director of the Tourism Office for Calabria Region Pasquale Anastasi and other local institutional representatives from the Port of Houston and the Office of Texas Governor.
During the dinner Luigi Fedele and the Italy America Chamber of Commerce Chairman Luciano Topi, gave a speech to make the audience more familiar with the great treasures that the Italian region of Calabria has to offer.
The second day of the mission was dedicated to the visits of several centers of interest in the city of Houston; the wine and food producers from Calabria had the great opportunity to visit in person Spec’s and Central Market, two of the biggest wine and gourmet retailers in Texas; this visit made them more directly aware of the dimension and the way these businesses conduct their economic activity. The Regional Council Member from Calabria Luigi Fedele and the Director of the Tourism Office Pasquale Anastasi were instead engaged in the visit of other institutional centers of interest like the Greater Houston Partnership, the Houston City Hall and the Methodist Research Center of which Professor Mauro Ferrari is the Chief Executive.
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