Food, wine and hospitality make for the perfect mix of products of excellence that will represent Italy at the Taste Fair 2011 from January 27 to 29 in Mumbai.

This will be a unique opportunity to approach the Indian sub-continental market, which has plenty of room for development and offers interesting business opportunities.

Italy will participate this year for the first time in the event – now in its second edition – with a group of 20 companies that promise to offer the best.

Among the many delights of Italian cuisine there will be Parmesan cheese, Parma culatello and Taggiasche olives, but also pasta, pizza and buffalo mozzarella.

There will also be important wines (structured reds like Chianti, Barbaresco, Nero d'Avola and Morellino di Scansano, and cool whites such as Vermentino, Trebbiano and Falanghina) and desserts like cantuccini (almond biscuits) to dip in vin santo (a sweet wine), tiramisù and panforte (a fruit and nut cake).

Hospitality will take pride of place: that sense of comfort that makes Italian hotels among the most popular in Europe, mixed with an innate sense of elegance. The taste and quality of Italian manufacture is at its best in silverware, napkins and glassware for table setting, but also in small and large systems for restaurants and bars. Another important area is bathroom products, with shower gel and shampoo bottles that are subjected to strict controls and recognised as dermatologically tested, but also with all those "gadgets" now considered indispensable by many customers such as shower caps, slippers, and bathrobes.

The companies will offer the best to visitors and experts coming to their stands, and for those who want to set up new business opportunities there will be a business point, a sort of personalised space for making first contacts and sharing ideas and projects.

The Indian sub-continent, with a population of over one billion people, is the world's second most populous country and its economy is sixth at global level in terms of growth, with an annual GDP approaching 10%.

Mumbai in particular, with 18 million inhabitants and a per capita income three times higher than the Indian average, has increasingly become the commercial capital of the country. In terms of agro-industry, it boasts the highest capacity for importation of food and beverages throughout India, representing about 40% of total market value.

In a market with such potential for development, Italy certainly does not want its presence to be missing, given the quality and originality of its products which are perfectly able to compete with other countries. France represents a special "challenge" with regard to food, wine and hospitality, but other countries like Britain and Germany cannot be neglected.