White paper on creativity - ebla center

Chapter 6as for example, the reduction in pastaconsumption, documented by ISTAT.Italians’ growing concern with personaland health care has stimulatedinnovation and boosted demand forhigher quality. In the last three years,over 4,000 products have beenreformulated to reduce cholesterol,saturated fat or salt content. Accordingto a Censis survey, 66% of overall foodindustry sales consists of classictraditional Italian food,10% of typicaland organic products and 24% ofinnovative products, especially ready toeat foods. In 2005, Unilever had aturnover of 760 million euros or 39%of the Italian frozen food market. Afterfish (34%) and vegetables (32%), 20%of its sales were for ready to eat dishes,i.e. the sector which has moreobviously assimilated local or regionalgastronomic influences. A significantfigure as regards innovative trends infood concerns functional foods, a termcoined in Japan for those foods which,independently of their nutritional valueand pleasure, have beneficialproperties. In Italy there are variousexamples in this direction. Accordingto a Censis study, among the criteriaused by Italians for choosing foodproducts and wine, quality is thepredominant factor for 39% of theinterviewees, accessible price for 32%,and the impression of freshness for10%.Moreover, an emerging innovativephenomenon is food design, i.e. thediscipline concerning the aesthetic andfunctional design of food, which is alsotaught at some Italian universities.Food and beverage are conceived asworks of art involving culinaryperformances which can even takeplace in some rather unusual places,such as contemporary art exhibitions.A creamy espresso to be eaten with ateaspoon, called Espesso, created byFerran Adrià for Lavazza, was decreedby Time as one the best inventions of2006.The so-called Slow Food experiencedeserves a separate chapter because ofits influence on the development of theItalian gastronomic heritage and itscreative approach to innovation. TheSlow Food philosophy spreadinternationally as a new etiquette andeducation about food in the name ofquality, loyalty to tradition andauthenticity.Originally called Arcigola, Slow Foodwas founded by Carlo Petrini at Bra(Piedmont) in 1986. Today theassociation has 35,000 members and410 local sections called condotte in Italy.In 1989 Slow Food became aninternational association with its ownnational offices in Germany,Switzerland, the United States, France,Japan, and the United Kingdom. In 122countries worldwide, Slow Food has40,000 members and 800 convivia(chapters). Each branch, co-ordinatedby a convivium leader, organises courses,food and wine tastings, dinners andtrips as well as promoting localcampaigns launched by the associationaimed at implementing projects such asschool vegetable gardens orparticipating in larger events organisedby Slow Food at international level.The association’s mission is to educatepeople to better taste, safeguardbiodiversity and traditional foodproduction, promote a new food modelbased on respect for the environment,traditions and cultural identity with theWHITE PAPER ON CREATIVITY 134