Restaurants Canada inks new agreement with HostMilano to put Canadian foodservice businesses on world stage

HostMilano is world's largest hospitality trade show

TORONTO, Oct. 12, 2016 /CNW/ - Restaurants Canada has partnered with HostMilano to showcase Canada's foodservice industry internationally and open the door to increased trade and innovation for Canadian companies. HostMilano is the world's largest trade event for the hotel, restaurant and catering sectors.

The exchange agreement will promote Canadian and global innovation at Restaurants Canada's annual event, the RC Show, Feb. 26 – 28, 2017 in Toronto, and open new opportunities for Canadian companies to participate in HostMilano, Oct. 20 – 24, 2017 in Milan, Italy.

The RC Show brings together over 700 companies, thousands of products, the latest trends, culinary excellence and business-building content to help educate over 15,000 hospitality industry professionals. The industry comes together to shop, taste, learn, connect and do business during Canada's Hospitality Week. HostMilano will be part of a new RC Show feature recognizing the latest innovations in design and technology, and will offer special incentives for Restaurants Canada members and exhibitors to participate in HostMilano. In addition, a delegation of industry leaders will be invited to attend HostMilano as guests of the event.

HostMilano is a meeting place for the world's buyers, with more than 150,000 delegates from 172 countries doing business with 2,000 exhibitors from 47 countries representing every continent. Buyers are looking for the latest equipment and raw materials to drive their hotel, restaurant and catering businesses. This makes the event a key for Canadian foodservice suppliers who are looking to export their products throughout the world. HostMilano provides a platform to showcase the best Canada has to offer, and allows Canada's foodservice operators an opportunity to source unique products not available in Canada, or to explore expansion into new markets.

"This new partnership with HostMilano is a very exciting first for Restaurants Canada and the hospitality industry," said Shanna Munro, President and CEO of Restaurants Canada. "We're proud to showcase Canada and our incredible culinary scene on the world stage. As the voice of foodservice in Canada, we see tremendous value in connecting buyers and sellers internationally, and opening the door to new business opportunities. We look forward to leading trade delegations to HostMilano over the coming years to see, first hand, new innovations that will inspire and drive our industry forward, and provide new products for consumers to enjoy."

Corrado Peraboni, CEO of Fiera Milano, the company that owns HostMilano, said: "The partnership between HostMilano and Restaurants Canada best exemplifies our internationalization strategy, which aims to bring Italian excellence to the world and, at the same time, bring the world to Italy. In today's increasingly interconnected economy, physical trade fairs are more essential than ever, but their function has been radically overhauled. No longer simply business platforms where supply meets demand, they are now key drivers for the relevant business sectors to which they must provide a full spectrum of services to sustain a real industrial policy."

For more information on Host2017, go to: www.host.fieramilano.it, @HostMilano, # Host2017

For more information on Restaurants Canada and the RC Show, go to: www.restaurantscanada.org and www.rcshow.com, @RestaurantsCA, #RCshow17

Restaurants Canada is the not-for-profit voice of foodservice in Canada, representing the $75-billion restaurant and foodservice industry that directly employs more than 1.2 million Canadians and indirectly employs an additional 283,000 as suppliers to the industry. Restaurants Canada also owns the RC Show, Canada's largest annual foodservice and hospitality event, MENU magazine and MENUmag.ca, as well as Groupex buying arm -- all dedicated to serving the industry and over 30,000 members.

SOURCE Restaurants Canada

Media Contact: Prasanthi Vasanthakumar, Restaurants Canada, 416-649-4254 or [email protected]