“True Italian Taste”, a project promoting Italian cuisine, was held on June 3 in Ho Chi Minh City, marking its first activity of the year on the Italian pasta, with the aim of promoting trade and investment between Italy and Vietnam, according to the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (ICHAM).

True Italian Taste, a project promoting Italian cuisine held on June 3. Photo: ICHAM

Prior to the event, the ICHAM in collaboration with the Italian Embassy in Vietnam held on June 1 a press conference introducing the program “True Italian Taste”, with the attendance of ICHAM Chairman Michele D'Ercole, Italian Ambassador Antonio Alessandro, and Brand Ambassador of True Italian Taste – former Miss Vietnam Ngoc Han.

True Italian Taste is a national culinary promotion project that has been operating in 40 countries and territories since 2018. In line with four main activities of the project during the year in Vietnam, the True Italian Taste provided food-bloggers and food-lovers who are avid of Italian cuisine with the huge knowledge about the world of the famous Italian pasta.

Through the event, food importers and distributors, hotels, restaurants & catering businesses (Horeca) and customers learned to distinguish between an authentic and an Italian - like dish of pasta.  

“Customers could make a more reasonable choice and use authentic Italian product instead of falling into the “Italian sounding” trap - a method in which foreign producers take advantage of the Italian-like phrases to name the brand, causing confusion among consumers about its origin and hence, increase the product sales,” said Pham Hoang Hai, executive director of the ICHAM.

Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Antonio Alessandro shared about the origin of pasta: “Being an Italian traditional cuisine, pasta has been enjoyed by all food lovers around the world, and become the world's most favorite food (according to Oxfam’s survey). However, legitimate sources of information could not always reach the customers.”

In the first four months of 2020, Vietnam’s export turnover to Italy reached US$914.4 million while imports reached US$505 million, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

In 2019, trade turnover between Italy and Vietnam totaled US$5.34 billion, of which export turnover to Italy stood at US$3.44 billion and import turnover was US$1.9 billion.