I have just returned from attending and moderating two sessions at the seventh edition of the Italian Hotel Investment Conference, or ITHIC, in Rome.
The event has been held at the Hotel Villa Pamphili on the outskirts of Rome for three years now, and a lot of espresso is sipped and networking conducted.
One of the exhibitors displaying their wares was a brewery from Turin called Biova, which collects daily bread, pasta and rice that would otherwise be discarded.
Of course, these things contain yeast and other ingredients that have been brewed into beer for centuries.
It tastes good, too. Evidently to do proper research, I needed to have one.
The brewery collects discarded ingredients from hotels. This is free to the brewery, and the hotel — I was told in Milan it is Meliá Hotels & Resorts’ two properties, the 291-room Meliá Milano and 145-room Innside by Meliá Milano Torre Galfa — which then acquires the beer and sells it to guests.
This is the perfect, circular solution to every hotel firm’s sustainability and hospitality goals.
It is also pretty cool marketing.
Biova even produces its own bar snack called Ri-Snack using the same procurement process. Started in 2019, Biova is now starting to stretch its wings.
It also works with hotel firms Hilton, NH Hotels & Resorts, Mandarin Oriental and Radisson Hotel Group, and its beer is sold in some branches of retail giant IKEA, and one can easily see the beneficial tie-ins to that company, too.
I also had — and if you are in Italy, it is criminal not to eat well — Bolognese ice cream manufacturer Fabbri 1905, which as its name suggests has now been in operation for 120 years.
It is difficult, I imagine, to survive in ice-cream manufacture in Italy if your products are not good. Like bagels in New York, I guess.
I remember when I first visited Bologna some 20 years ago, my friend Francesco made sure we visited Fabbri’s small outlet, and we sat under the shadow of Bologna’s cathedral eating vanilla ice cream topped with cherries.
That store is no longer there, and the firm now concentrates on production and distribution.
It also has developed a revolutionary ice-cream cart, which — although I can follow Italian to some degree, some detail is lost — I think is called the Gelato System and can make very high-quality ice cream in 10 or so minutes, which then can be rolled around events to the delight of guests.
Espresso and beer before and after ice cream are a delight, and I was told that in 2025, Fabbri 1905 published its third Sustainability Report, so it is hoped they are doing its bit for the environment.
The more one eats and drinks, the more one saves the planet, or something like that.
Buon appetito!
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