C2 Montreal is the annual international business conference that blends innovation, creativity, art, entertainment, high-level networking, and learning opportunities. The last edition of C2 Montreal took place at the Arsenal Contemporary Art complex in Quebec’s largest city, from May 23rd to 25th, 2018.
Over the 3 immersive days, over 6 thousand executives and decision-makers from across Canada, North America, and various countries around the world met, exchanged ideas, and shared their experiences.  
Amongst the key sponsors of C2 Montreal 2018 were Machines Italia, the Italian Trade Commission, and Seeds & Chips.
The purpose of Machines Italia's involvement in the Montreal event was to promote the Italian agri-food industry, and in particular food technology and innovations. From established brands to cutting-edge SMEs, Italy is a leading builder and exporter of food packaging and processing equipment that help companies the world over innovate and make strides in their respective markets. In 2016 alone, Italy produced over $8.5 billion (CAD) worth of packaging machinery and $7.5 billion worth of food processing technology, exporting 80% of the former and 70% of the latter. In a nutshell, Italy is truly a hotbed of machinery and equipment innovation.
You’d be forgiven for thinking of Germany, Japan, or Korea anytime the words “machinery and equipment” are mentioned – these countries are home to machinery juggernauts. But Italy has something they don’t. “Italian machinery and equipment makers are a lot nimbler,” says Matteo Picariello, the Italian Trade Commissioner to Canada. “Italian companies using their products are typically medium-sized, family-owned businesses with very specific needs – they need their equipment to execute precise tasks. To fit with the market, Italian machinery makers have to customize every machine to their clients’ needs. There’s no one size fits all.”
Creating custom-made machines comes with an incomparable advantage: knowledge. Constantly tweaking and remodeling machinery grants Italian equipment manufacturers a deeper understanding of both their products and their market. This knowledge benefits Italy’s food industry as a whole as food manufacturers, in turn, use this personalized equipment to craft better products and fill the needs of their own customers while innovating.
“What we’re also seeing is Italian food manufacturers being mostly medium-sized; they’re able to integrate new technology faster and more efficiently than the giants. That allows them to innovate better and quicker, which gives them a leading edge,” Picariello adds.
Furthermore, Italy is reimagining the global food system. “Sixty-six percent of the global population will live in cities by 2050,” says Sharon Cittone, Seeds & Chips Chief Content Officer (Seeds & Chips hosts a yearly food innovation summit in Milan, Italy). “By that year, we’ll have close to 10 billion people to feed on this planet. There are issues that need to be considered, and this needs to happen nowCittone adds, Our food system is broken. The idea isn’t to sustain it but to regenerate it, and that’s precisely what a lot of Italian startups are working on right now.”.
Areas piquing these Italian entrepreneurs’ interest are plenty. Precision agriculture, for one, attracts many consummate innovators. With most of the world’s agriculture being traditional, the sector is ripe for game-changing technological advances. What if a farmer could use sensors, big data, and predictive analytics to know exactly when to plant, water, and fertilize crops? Could technology be able to pinpoint sick plants or patches? Could AI automate irrigation?
“The idea that, with a blood sample or a DNA analysis, a person could get a personalized, targeted diet plan elaborated for them generates a lot of interest,” says Cittone. “This type of nutrition counseling doesn’t address you as part of a group, but as a person with very specific nutritional needs, intolerances, or allergies, and I think it’s very compelling for the future.”
 
Asked to describe Italian entrepreneurs in a few words, there is no hesitation in Cittone’s answer: “They’re forward-thinking activists. Game-changers.”
Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, reinventing our food system is no short-term project. But Italy’s machinery manufacturers and food innovators certainly are on the path towards making this moonshot a reality.
A delegation of Italian food-sector innovators, along with representatives of the Italian Trade Commission and Seed & Chips, participated in C2 Montréal 2018:
●Mantra Cold Pressed, purveyor of fresh, cold-pressed juices
●Precision crop management platform Agricolus
●Innovation factory Italy Food Design
●Cream maker Officine Dolcelatte
●Industrial valve manufacturers Bardiani
●Pasta machinery maker SARP
●Packaging equipment manufacturer PFM North America
●IIOT and business management software provider Avantune
 
Canadian and international decision-makers attending C2 Montreal had the chance to mingle and meet with the Italian delegates during the course of the networking events (breakfast and cocktail) at the Italian Trade Commission and Seed & Chips business lounge on May 23rd.
Luca Gamberini, Marketing Manager of Ocean Reef Group, spoke at a plenary session, on May 23rd, about the revolutionary Nemo’s Granden’s underwater green house system.
 
For further information on this initiative, please contact machinesitalia [at] ice.it (subject: Machines%20Italia%20E-newsletter)