CREG’16 Report

Catalonia, European Region of Gastronomy 2016 was a living, participative project in which associations, stakeholders and local people worked to promote Catalan gastronomy. The aim: making our gastronomy an identifying feature that enables the differentiation and uniqueness of the territory.

CREG'16 Report

CREG'16 Report Annexes

Project Videos:

We would particularly mention the following activities:

FOR PROFESSIONALS

Closing ceremony of Catalonia European Region of Gastronomy

Barcelona will host the Parabere Forum'17

Catalan Food Plan

Networking conferences

Local and international trade fairs

B2B activities

Food Public Procurement Plan

First international competition for young chefs: European Young Chef Award 2016

New technology and gastronomy workshops

Annual Technology Transfer Plan

Young Craftsperson Award, Food Technology Innovation Award and RuralApps

Promoting sales of local produce in restaurants

IWINETC International Wine Tourism Conference

Catalunya #Som Gastronomia Tour 2016

World of Flavours

Catalan Wines USA

Weine aus Katalonien (Germany)

“Buy Catalunya” workshop

ÀPAT Trade Fair

Presentation of the gastronomic Michelin Guide 2017

II ECO Networking Meeting

Presentation of the Gastronomic Experiences brand

II Night of Catalan Gourmet

FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC

EUReGa! Project

Nutrition and Gastronomy Festival

Eating Fruit in Schools Plan

Bio Week

Campaign to promote products with a PDO/PGI

Getaways Market

Alimentació souvenir

Master Chef

From the Earth to the Moon

The Dinner of the Stars

“Som Gastronomia” Set Meal Campaign

Benvinguts a pagès

Catalonia, European Region of Gastronomy was highly aware of its objective to share knowledge and exchange experiences with the other participants of the European Region of Gastronomy platform. Catalonia, as a pioneer in holding the title, was a point of reference and had a mission to transmit all its knowledge to the future regions.

Closing ceremony of Catalonia European Region of Gastronomy

Catalonia said farewell to European Region of Gastronomy on Monday 24th April, with a gastronomic and musical event at the Gardens of Palau Robert in Barcelona; coinciding also with the closing of the Year of Gastronomy and Wine Tourism as well as the exhibition "From The Earth to the Moon ", the homage to the 30th anniversary of Celler de Can Roca. The event, a show organized in collaboration with the Enderrock magazine —matching the September issue of the magazine dedicated to couples of chefs and musicians— was graced with speeches by the Counselor of Agriculture, Ms. Meritxell Serret; the Counselor of Business and Knowledge, Mr. Jordi Baiget; and the Catalan European Region of Gastronomy 2016 Commissioner, Carme Gasull. They all analysed an intense year, gastronomically speaking, with many voices involved - about 700 affiliates - all gathered under the voice of a luxury ambassador: chef Carme Ruscalleda, a product, territory and cuisine enthusiast, the trinomial that has been part of the DNA of the designation. The gastronomic and musical show, on the other hand, gathered in the same stage the musician Pep Sala, who interpreted "La Madre de los huevos" by chef Nandu Jubany; Xarim Areste, who played "Mar y Montaña", inspired by chef Marc Gascones; and Arnau Tordera, who presented "El Tour", a theme by chef Vicenç Guimerà. Also, Roger Mas played the unpublished theme "A Carme Ruscalleda", inspired by the ambassador of Catalonia European Region of Gastronomy 2016. Watch the video on the gastronomic and musical report of Enderrock here.

Barcelona will host the Parabere Forum'17

Barcelona has been chosen for the third meeting of the Parabere Forum, an international non-profit platform that gathers opinions from mainly women experts in agri-food, culinary and gastronomic issues around the world. The distinction of Catalonia European Region of Gastronomy 2016 has been one of the main reasons why the meeting will be held in Barcelona, the next 5th and 6th of March. Parabere Forum 2017 will focus on sustainability in agri-food industry and the world of food and wine, both in terms of our working life and in relation to our planet. What are the challenges of the future? Where can we find the opportunities? The answers to these questions and many others will be given at this conference and can be drawn from the conclusions of the numerous conferences and roundtables that will be held during these two days. Parabere Forum, which for the last three years has brought together prominent opinion leaders from agri-food companies, culinary activists, scientists, farmers and some of the best chefs on the five continents, has as its main goal "to improve the gastronomy, food, nutrition and agriculture worlds, with a feminine vision ", in the words of its founder and president, Maria Canabal. The action will be complemented by a press trip for the Barcelona and Girona demarcations. For registrations, click here.

Catalan Food Plan

Holding a symposium divided into a number of sessions will make it possible to examine and plan gastronomy in our country. The work areas for the Catalan Gastronomy Plan are as follows: gastronomy, a snapshot of a strategic economic sector in Catalonia; gastronomy and heritage (identity) in Catalonia; gastronomy as a key factor for the country and sustainable development, one which is connected to tourism; gastronomy and health: how to get everyone to eat better; gastronomy, education and innovation; publicising gastronomy; and international strategic partnerships. This Plan is being drawn up with the help of experts and key people in each area who will set out the state of the art and the targets which can be achieved, together with the roadmap to attain results which are subsequently to be included in a document that will be published as part of the Fòrum Gastronòmic Barcelona’16. The first two sessions of the symposium – gastronomy, education and innovation, and gastronomy, a snapshot of a strategic economic sector in Catalonia – were held at the Alimentaria 2016 trade fair led by experts from the University of Lleida (UdL) and ESADE Business & Law School.

Networking conferences

The networking conferences add to knowledge and make it possible to forge business ties between Catalan food producers who have quality, local produce and other labels and companies operating in the hotel, catering and retail industries. A number of business meetings are to be held at which the richness of Catalan culinary heritage and local products will be promoted for inclusion on the set meals of the various establishments. It is planned to hold one main meeting for products bearing a local produce label and at least one meeting per geographical area for the other products.

Local and international trade fairs

Attendance at local and international agrifood trade fairs is being encouraged with the aim of promoting awareness, consumption and marketing of quality local Catalan agricultural products. Alimentaria 2016 At the Alimentaria 2016 International Food and Beverages Trade Fair the DARP (Catalan acronym for the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food) coordinated a number of culinary activities and demonstrations put on by organisations related to quality Catalan produce at a booth in The Alimentaria Experience area. They included the Catalonia, European Region of Gastronomy 2016 ‘Palamós Prawns, a taste of sustainability’ show cooking held on 26 April. The booth also had a section set aside for the European regions that are part of the platform which provided information about them and showed videos about their areas and produce. Other international trade fairs Fruit Logistica. Berlin (Germany) 3-5 February Biofach. Nuremberg (Germany) 10-13 February Gulfood. Dubai (United Arab Emirates) 21-25 February Foodex. Tokyo (Japan) 8-11 March ProWein. Düsseldorf (Germany) 13-16 March ProWine Asia. Singapore 12-15 April Seafood. Brussels (Belgium) 19-21 April SIAL China. Shanghai (China) 4-6 May SIAL Paris. (France) 16-20 October Fruit Attraction. (Madrid) 26-28 October

B2B activities

Wine and Gourmet Sector New York, Washington DC (USA). First week of February Seoul (South Korea). May Fruit Business Forum – B2B fruit sector with importers from third-party markets in Barcelona. Central America – 7 to 11 March, multiproduct B2B with importers from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and the Dominican Republic. Meat Business Forum Econetworking

Food Public Procurement Plan

Another action envisaged as part of the project is the establishment of a Food Public Procurement Plan. Based on a decision taken by the Government last June, the Plan requires specific clauses to be included in food procurement agreements by the Catalan Government and its public sector organisations to promote quality local products. Specifically, these clauses are designed to foster quality healthy eating through environmentally-friendly processes that promote regional balance and drive cuisine as a sign of cultural identity. This will highlight the sector’s strategic importance in the country due to its economic role and the contribution it makes to the balance of the territory and preserving the landscape and the environment. The decision fulfils the mandate of the Parliament of Catalonia and the Catalan Government’s commitment to safeguarding the key role of public procurement in promoting social objectives of general interest. In 2016 the Plan will be publically presented to all Ministries and stakeholders to further its development and implementation.

First international competition for young chefs: European Young Chef Award 2016

An activity that will feature the participation of the partner regions of the European Region of Gastronomy platform will be the European Young Chef Award 2016, the first international competition for young chefs to be presented on 14 November. The event will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the School of Tourism in Sant Pol de Mar and 30 consecutive years of the Catalonia Young Cooking Contest.

New technology and gastronomy workshops

At the regional level workshops are being run about new technology and gastronomy featuring a range of theoretical and practical ideas about how to publicise food and gastronomic heritage in order to boost the local economy through new technology. At the workshops tools such as Wikipedia, social media and/or the range of mobile applications are presented to consumers.

Annual Technology Transfer Plan

The Annual Technology Transfer Plan (PATT 2016) is an instrument coordinated by the DARP (Catalan acronym for the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food) in which a large number of sector and regional stakeholders take part to provide the agriculture, livestock, agro-industrial, forestry and rural Catalonia sectors with a single scheme for knowledge transfer. The strategic lines of work for 2016, which are to be implemented through more than 1,000 actions spread across Catalonia, include the Common Agricultural Policy, efficient water and energy management, sustainable management and use of natural and forestry resources, agrifood innovation, quality and safety in the food chain, handling cattle manure on farms, and enhancing local food products as exponents of their area and the basis for its gastronomy.

Young Craftsperson Award, Food Technology Innovation Award and RuralApps

A number of awards are also to be presented. Firstly there is the Young Craftsperson Food Innovation Award which rewards the efforts of young food craftspeople in recovery, innovation, diversification and design of craft products. This award aims to encourage activities such as research and development of new food craft products, using new techniques in the preparation of craft food products, improving the image of the products, and making use of new marketing channels for prepared craft products. Secondly, the Food Technology Innovation Award has been set up to recognise agro-industry agricultural enterprises and young entrepreneurs who have an innovative spirit and have brought in new technology and processes that deliver significant improvements in competitiveness, environmental stewardship and good practices to ensure the quality and safety of production. The third award, RuralApps, is given in recognition of companies that contribute to improving the agricultural, food and rural sector by developing mobile apps. It has two categories: RuralApps for the general public and RuralApps for industry professionals.

Promoting sales of local produce in restaurants

Promotion of Catalan restaurants and food establishments which have earned the Local Sales seal in recognition of their commitment to offer local produce on their menus. Leaflets are to be published featuring information about the restaurants and the producers who supply them by counties, and will be sent to the restaurants, tourist offices and DARP (Catalan acronym for the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food) regional offices.

IWINETC International Wine Tourism Conference

The Catalan Tourist Board was a Premier Sponsor along with Barcelona Provincial Council and also helped to arrange familiarisation trips. The event was held on 5-6 April 2016 at the Barcelona Golf Hotel and was attended by 65 tour operators and 15 journalists.

Catalunya #Som Gastronomia Tour 2016

The Tour is designed to promote food and wine tourism in the following priority markets: France (Bordeaux), UK (London), Spain (Madrid), Germany (Berlin), Sweden (Stockholm) and Italy (Milan). It will consist of immersion in the recreation of market stalls where attendees can “buy” products which they then learn to make. It will also include show cooking by a Catalan chef from the Col•lectiu de Cuina group. Participants will be opinion leaders in each of the markets (travel agents, influencers and the media). The destinations and dates are as follows: Stockholm: 11 April Costa Daurada, in partnership with the Tarragona Tourist Board Col•lectiu de Cuina: Terra i Taula Milan: 17 May Costa Brava, in partnership with the Girona–Costa Brava Tourist Board Col•lectiu de Cuina: Cuina de l’Empordanet Madrid: 1 June Barcelona province, in partnership with the Barcelona Provincial Council Tourist Board. Col•lectiu de Cuina: Osona Cuina Berlin: 7 June Barcelona City, in partnership with the Barcelona Tourist Board Col•lectiu de Cuina: Barceloneta Cuina London (WTM Trade Show dinner): 7 November Bordeaux: 28 November Lleida province, in partnership with the Lleida Provincial Council Tourist Board Col•lectiu de Cuina: Noguera Cuina

World of Flavours

Congress organised by the Culinary Institute of America in the Napa Valley from 20 to 23 April attended by the ACCIÓ department and with a presentation of Catalan gastronomy by the Catalan Tourist Board to influencers in the destination. In addition to ACCIÓ, Catalan food companies will also be there to introduce their products along with 16 wineries which will host a tasting seminar.

Catalan Wines USA

This is a platform sponsored by ACCIÓ which supports the entry of wineries into the United States market. It provides support in the preparation stage, involving pricing, promotional materials, product selection, processing labelling and shipping the product to the United States, and also in marketing by holding three annual events to which wine industry professionals are invited for a seminar about Catalan wines and a tasting of products from participating wineries. The events scheduled for this year will be in Denver, Colorado, on 17 May and Charlotte, North Carolina, in October 2016.

Weine aus Katalonien (Germany)

ACCIÓ’s programme presents wines and cavas to industry professionals through a digital strategy (website, social media, blog, newsletter, digital promotional campaigns) and two to three professional tasting events in various metropolitan areas of Germany divided into a seminar and a fair event with wine walks. This year’s event is scheduled for 18 April in Frankfurt.

“Buy Catalunya” workshop

From 27 September to 1 October the Catalan Tourist Board is to hold Buy Catalunya, a multiproduct and multimarket workshop which will focus on food and wine tourism. It is to be supported by tour operators in a number of markets: Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Slovakia, Spain, the USA, France, Israel, Italy, the Nordic countries, Eastern Europe, the UK and Southeast Asia. The Workshop will be accompanied by several familiarisation trips around the territory.

ÀPAT Trade Fair

It is the trade fair for food produced in Catalonia at which every year producers and processors of Catalan products present their wares to shops, restaurants, hotels, wine bars, retailers and consumers. The ÀPAT Trade Fair is the present and future of the Catalan food sector. Based on several partnerships and a proactive attitude we have a single aim: to promote Catalan products. The Fair will take place on 8, 9 and 10 October at the Dome Events Venue in the Las Arenas Shopping Centre in Barcelona. A magazine entitled Aliments a Catalunya (Food in Catalonia) is also published twice a season for restaurants and food stores. This magazine includes the communication plans available to brands and DARP (Catalan acronym for the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food) programmes. In the Llibre electrònic de receptes Fira ÀPAT 2016 recipes e-book the DARP (Catalan acronym for the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food) may appear as a publisher and producers can advertise in it as food suppliers. It is distributed online. CERG’16 will be publicised in all these formats as the ÀPAT Trade Fair 2016 has joined the Catalonia, European Region of Gastronomy platform.

Presentation of the gastronomic Michelin Guide 2017

The Catalan Tourist Board will collaborate with the Costa Brava & Girona Tourist Board on the organization of the Michelin Stars’ gala, which will be held in Mas Marroch de Vilablareix (Girona) on November 23. Chef Joan Roca will host the event along with his brothers, showcasing Catalan cuisine due to the high number of Michelin stars Catalan restaurants boast.

II ECO Networking Meeting

The Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food along with Prodeca, celebrated the 2nd ECONetworking day, a professional meeting dedicated to the ecological sector, on November 7th at Mercat de la Flor - Mercabarna (Barcelona).

ECONetworking is a platform for bringing together producers and processors from the organic agro-food sector with buyers and distributors. The meeting opened with a welcome to the participants, by representatives of the Department of Agriculture and Prodeca, and continued with the conference "NUDGING, helping people improve their thinking and decisions, taught by Enric Segarra and Costa, Strategy, Creativity and Innovation professor. Later, the B2B meetings took place, a series of brief interviews between buyers and sellers, which aim to facilitate contact between professionals in the organic agro-food sector.

http://www.prodeca.cat/noticies_detall.php?idNoticia=321#.WJmkWIXu1FR

Presentation of the Gastronomic Experiences brand

This new work program by the Catalan Tourism Board was presented on October 25, 2016, and was directed towards the tourist sector that works gastronomic tourism. It was born with the aim of adapting Catalonia's tourist offer to the demand and to attract more higher quality Customers.
The Gastronomy Experiences brand offers all participating companies a series of advantages to help them promote their business better. There are some requirements to be fulfilled by the companies, which also have to pay a participation fee to participate.

II Night of Catalan Gourmet

The Night of Catalan Gourmet is already considered a reference for promotion of gourmet products of Catalonia. In 2016, it was held at the Pedralbes Palace in Barcelona on 3 October. Half a hundred companies, associated with the Gourmet Cluster of Catalonia, presented their products and allowed more than 500 guests to discover and try out some of their new products. The Night of Catalan Gourmet is organized by the Gourmet Cluster of Catalonia, which receives the support of the Generalitat of Catalonia’s Agency for the competitiveness of the company (ACCIÓ). The 2016 ceremony was presided over by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, Meritxell Serret. At the event, the Celler de Can Roca (Girona) was distinguished with the Catalan Gourmet of the Year Award, which recognizes the commitment, dedication and appreciation for the products of our land. Also, El Pastoret de la Segarra was awarded the Entrepreneurial Growth Award for its innovation; And Sant Aniol’s water received the Business Growth Award for its internationalization process.

EUReGa! Project

In order to introduce young people to cooking, Catalonia and the regions of Midtjylland (Denmark), Hertogenbosch (the Netherlands), Riga (Latvia), Sibiu (Romania), Bergamo-Lombardy (Italy) and Alto Minho (Portugal) have filed an application with the European Interregional programme for the EUReGa! project. EUReGa! (European Regions of Gastronomy) aims to promote the richness and diversity of European cuisine as unique heritage and also a generator of wealth for these regions and for the European Union as a whole. The project is to put in place improvement actions in this area in the seven participating regions and build synergies between them in order to generate a positive medium- and long-term impact with the aim of preserving and promoting culinary heritage as a quality asset that is valuable for the general public as a whole. The measures planned by Catalonia as part of EUReGa! are designed to encourage young people to learn about the benefits of cooking and take it on board as a lifestyle pattern. The project will be carried out with the support of a number of experts in food issues including university professors, nutritionists and producers and will apply research and innovation in this field.

Nutrition and Gastronomy Festival

Festa&Teca, the healthy gastronomy and food festival, was held in March this year as part of the “Nutrició, impuls vital” exhibition at the Barcelona Museum of Natural Sciences running from June 2015 to May 2016. It was an event for the general public designed to bring the values of Catalan culinary culture to everyone and highlight the importance of healthy nutrition, food and lifestyles with a view to improving the quality of life of people.

Eating Fruit in Schools Plan

The Plan is designed to promote healthy eating habits among children, associate them with the Mediterranean diet and help reduce childhood obesity levels. The Eating Fruit in Schools Plan comes under the EU’s strategy to turn around the downward trend in fruit and vegetable consumption and encourage children to take on board healthy habits. Under the programme three pieces of fresh fruit and vegetables are provided free of charge per month which children eat for breakfast and/or tea on the school grounds. During this school year fruit will be distributed from January to June, selected depending on seasonality, closeness of production and quality, for one week a month. Over 1,200 schools are taking part in the scheme and it will reach more than 290,000 children. This distribution of fruit is accompanied by educational and recreational activities aimed at supporting and consolidating the children’s knowledge about the benefits of eating fruit and about its features, production, seasonality, etc. These activities will be carried out in the schools taking part in the Plan.

Bio Week

Bio Week for organic food is an initiative that brings together a series of measures which have the common aim of promoting and publicising organic food production and consumption as a whole. The activities include set meals, workshops, markets, training, articles, etc. and will be run from 20 to 29 May all around Catalonia.

Campaign to promote products with a PDO/PGI

The campaign started up by the DARP (Catalan acronym for the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food) at Christmas 2015 to encourage the consumption of products with a quality mark is to be continued. The 20-second TV advertisement about PDO and PGI labels and the video lasting 3.14 min for digital media, shot at Món San Benet and featuring the group Blaumut, which promote Catalan PDO and PGI labels are to be shown throughout 2016.

Getaways Market

In partnership with the Provincial Councils’ Tourist Boards, the Catalan Tourist Board is to organise on 6, 7 and 8 May the Getaways Market, a street event in Passeig Lluís Companys in Barcelona addressed to the end user and designed to sell tourist experiences in Catalonia while also including aspects of food and wine tourism. Promotional activities will include workshops, experiences and product tasting.

Alimentació souvenir

Coinciding with the Welcome to the Farm programme, the Catalan Government’s Tourism Offices in Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tortosa will begin marketing quality Catalan food products associated with their regions and which tell the story of the gastronomic culture of the area and/or are related to a tourism experience. This project is to be run by the Directorate General of Tourism, the Directorate General of Industry and the Catalan Tourist Board.

Master Chef

On 24 February a number of participants in Catalonia, European Region of Gastronomy 2016, including the project’s ambassador Carme Ruscalleda, took part in the filming of the most watched cooking programme on Spanish television which will publicise Catalan cuisine in local markets. It was broadcast on 13 April and will also be repeated.

From the Earth to the Moon

Exhibition about El Celler de Can Roca at the Palau Robert in Barcelona The Sub-directorate General for Promotion in the Ministry of the Presidency is to organise the exhibition ‘From the Earth to the Moon’, a collection of 30 years of history of El Celler de Can Roca which can be seen from 26 September to 30 April 2017 at the Palau Robert in Barcelona. The exhibition will be curated by Toni Massanés, Director of the Alícia Foundation, and it is planned to take it on an international tour afterwards. The exhibition is supported by the Catalan Tourist Board.

The Dinner of the Stars

To mark World Tourism Day in Catalonia, on 27 September the Catalan Tourist Board is organising an event in the Oval Room at the National Museum of Art of Catalonia which will bring together over 600 Catalan tourism industry professionals and international influencers invited to the Buy Catalunya workshop. The event will be a tribute to the chefs, the stars of Catalan gastronomy, and will be attended by members of the Col•lectius de Cuina, Cuina Catalana and the SlowFood associations. Also present will be numerous chefs with two or three Michelin stars who led by chef Nandu Jubany (one Michelin star) will prepare the cocktail to be offered to attendees. The event, which will also be attended by the winners of the Catalonia Tourism Awards 2016, aims to call attention to gastronomy and tourism, one of the most important industries in our economy.

“Som Gastronomia” Set Meal Campaign

Campaign aimed at Catalan restaurants to encourage them to draw up set meals which meet the challenge of the European Region of Gastronomy (local produce with seasonal set meals tailored to the seasons and based on the cuisine of the local area).

Requirements for making the "Som Gastronomia" menu

Benvinguts a pagès

The first edition of the initiative (held from June 17 to 19 by almost 200 agricultural and livestock farms throughout the territory) exceeded the expectations generated by more than 12,500 visitors. The next edition will be held from June 2nd to 4th, 2017: http://benvingutsapages.cat/en/