Italy unveils its 'Disneyland for foodies'

BOLOGNA, Italy - A gastronomic theme park designed as a celebration of Italy's field-to-fork food culture was scheduled to open next week with backers aiming to pull in six million visitors a year.

Dubbed a 'Disneyland for foodies' and billed as the biggest venture of its kind in the world, FICO Eataly World is located on the outskirts of Bologna.

It is the brainchild of Oscar Farinetti, the entrepreneur behind Eataly, a global network of upmarket Italian food halls that has taken New York and a string of other major cities around the world by storm in recent years.

Spread over ten hectares, the park, which will operate as a conference venue as well as a tourist attraction, will be run by a partnership of Eataly and Italian retail group Coop.

The venue has been financed by a consortium of private investors and the local authorities in a city famed for its rich cuisine but off Italy's main tourist track.

FICO is an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Contadina (Italian Farming Factory). Fico is also the Italian word for a fig, and a popular slang term for 'cool'.

The multiple meaning is in keeping with Farinetti's multifaceted vision of a venue that will allow visitors to take part in activity workshops ranging from food photography to gelato-making via the basics of truffle hunting.

A fifth of the park, assembled in what was the city's wholesale fruit and vegetable market, is outdoors with some 200 animals and 2,000 species of plant life due to be on show.

"Education is fundamental to the whole thing. But it is also about having fun, eating and shopping," Farinetti said.

The park is also about celebrating the culinary and farming crafts that lie behind many of Italy's most famous gastronomic products, and the biodiversity of a country that stretches from Mediterranean islands within sight of Africa to snowcapped Alpine peaks.

Visitors can explore that diversity via more than 40 eateries and a similar number of learn-how-its-done displays by specialist producers of everything from rare-breed beef to licorice sweets.

'Total panic'

As the opening date nears, Farinetti said he is caught between rampant enthusiasm at seeing a dream realized, and "total panic".

"This for me is quite normal. I'm terrified that people won't come in the numbers we expect. You can't help but feel panicked when you start something like this."

Park CEO Tiziana Primori said the target was to be drawing six million visitors a year by 2020, with the business plan envisaging a third coming from the local area, a third from the rest of Italy and a final tranche of around two million from abroad.

Agence France-presse

(China Daily 11/11/2017 page10)