First and foremost will be wine: white, red or rosé, dry or lightly sparkling, depending on the dish being served. Then there will be extra-virgin olive oil, pasta, cheese and all sorts of dairy products. The 2010 edition of the Summer Fancy Food fair, from June 27th to 29^th in New York, will have the flavours of the most genuine Italian food.

In the sparkling and multi-ethnic atmosphere of the Jacob Javits Center, in the heart of Manhattan, the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE) will set up a pavilion hosting a group of 237 companies: the best way to present visitors with a gastronomic itinerary of diversity and quality, offering them a true journey of the senses, without having to leave the Big Apple.

Italian products are appreciated in the United States, making it one of Italy’s major trading partners in the agricultural sector, ranking fourth among major foreign market outlets. The main objective of attending the Summer Fancy Food fair will be to consolidate positions already acquired on the market, especially in those sectors where international competition is greatest, and thus increase the supply of Italian products through an increasingly qualified market presence.

This important event, the largest U.S. agro-food fair, is a not-to-miss occasion for entrepreneurs who want to create new business opportunities, especially those already operating in the United States at different levels. It is important to reverse a downturn in exports in 2009 which was felt heavily in the sector: in the first 10 months of 2009, the world economic crisis led the United States to import Italian products worth 1.787 million Euro (an acceptable figure, but 10.5% lower than the same period in 2008).

Participation in the Summer Fancy Food fair can give new impetus to business and the enviable numbers of the previous edition are expected again: last year, there were more than 24,000 visitors and about 2,300 exhibitors from 70 different countries.

This year Italy will once again offer the best of its gastronomic tradition, showcasing only the finest products: buffalo mozzarella and durum wheat pasta from Campania, Tuscan olive oil, tomato sauces from different regions, "Genovese" pesto from Liguria and, to accompany these dishes in the most appropriate fashion, fine Tuscan wines such as Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino or equally well-known Southern Italian wines such as "Primitivo" from Manduria.

It is really difficult to predict what visitors and experts will prefer in such a large exhibition space in which they will be spoilt for choice. Some are ready to bet that, like last year, wine will be top of the list, but pastries, pizza and cheese could reserve delicious new surprises.