Head to Bologna for the FICO experience

2018-02-12 Until a while ago, if you Googled the word “fico” (Italian for fig), the top search result would be the fruit of the tree belonging to the Moraceae family and the ficus genus. But no more: today it’s FICO Eataly World which tops the search engine’s list.
Fabbrica Italiana Contadina (known as FICO for short) opens on Wednesday 15th November on the site of Bologna’s former fruit and vegetable market. The agro-food park, the floor and wall coverings for which were supplied by the Graniti Fiandre group, is the largest in the world: two hectares of fields and outdoor stables.
With 200 animals and 2,000 typical plants, FICO will give visitors a chance to find out more about Italian farming and animal rearing. Six of the production chains will be open for visits with forty farming ‘factories’ from all over Italy, all of them unique for their excellence.
Bologna’s food mega-park will also be offering wonderful gastronomic experiences thanks to its 40-plus eateries: from fine dining to osterias, trattorias to street food, tasting outlets to bars. Not to mention shopping, with a 9,000 square metre market plus culinary specialists, pop-up stores for particular foodstuffs and shops selling Italian products from outside the food and drink sector.
Shoppers will also be able to borrow one of the freeFICO Bikes, made by Bianchi, to explore the park: they come with two baskets, one of which is refrigerated to keep fresh goods cool.
FICO will also focus on the ties between humans and the natural elements (fire, earth, the sea, animals, bottles, the future): six multimedia “rides”, each divided into five sections (visual, sensorial, active, practical and interactive), will provide fascinating educational experiences.
Visitors to FICO will never be short of things to do. There will be more than 30 events and 50 courses every day, exploring aspects of the farming cycle such as the grape harvest and olive oil pressing, pathways narrated by special “biodiversity ambassadors” and over 200 conventions a year, including business meetings and trade fairs, at the conference centre which houses up to one thousand people.
To help promote food education and knowledge, sustainable consumption and environmentally-conscious production, the FICO Foundation was launched last July with the agro-economist Andrea Segrè at its helm. Members of the new Foundation also include the Italian Environment Ministry and leading Italian universities and research institutes working in the food, health and sustainability sector: the University of Bologna, the Suor Orsola Benincasa University, Naples, the University of Trento, the Future Food Institute and the University of Gastronomic Sciences, Pollenzo.
FICO will be actively involved in education, offering learning pathways which will teach more about Italian food production chains - from field to fork – through valid educational activities, create opportunities for learning a trade with special training courses, and provide some fun with tastings and workshops.
All visitors to FICO will be able to find an experience which suits their needs perfectly: exploring the park by themselves, learning from an expert guide or getting their fingers in the pie with a cookery course.
 
Mariagrazia Villa
 
Photos: © FICO Eataly World