The three-year campaign Arigat-EU combines three Consortia for the protection of PDO and PGI deli meat, Consorzio Mortadella Bologna (in the role of head institution), Consorzio Cacciatore Italiano and Consorzio Zampone and Cotechino Modena PGI and is co-funded by the European Union. The project aims toims to ims toims to increase increaseincrease increase increase thethe level levellevel of knowledgeknowledge knowledgeknowledge and recognition recognition recognition recognitionrecognition of the the Italian Italian Italian PDO and PGI deli meatPDO and PGI deli meatPDO and PGI deli meatPDO and PGI deli meatPDO and PGI deli meat PDO and PGI deli meat PDO and PGI deli meatPDO and PGI deli meatPDO and PGI deli meatPDO and PGI deli meatPDO and PGI deli meat PDO and PGI deli meat PDO and PGI deli meat and promote them in Japan.
The influencers key role in this project is to share information with their audience and get them excited to learn about the history and quality of the original Made in Italy products, the value of PDO and PGI deli meat, and how to recognize and utilize them in many recipes. For this precise reason, the Arigat-EU campaign, every year, gives great attention to the selection process in finding the best influencers able to cover this important role. After a careful selection, the five influencers chosen for the year 2019 are two chefs and three acclaimed food bloggers.
The first influencer is Salvatore Cuomo, recognized as a guru of the Italian cuisine in Asia. A renowned chef, entrepreneur and television figure, Cuomo has written several cookbooks and was chosen for a second time as influencer in the project Arigat-EU. He is one of the best Italian chefs in Asia where he is owner of more than 200 Italian restaurants. Born in Naples from an Italian father, a Neapolitan chef, and a Japanese mother, Cuomo moved to Japan at the age of 11, then he returned to Italy at the age of 16 to finish his cooking studies. After, he returned to Japan where he began to make authentic Neapolitan pizzas, which also thanks to him became popular in all the country. He is well-known in the social media, with 274k followers on Instagram and 138.618 followers on Facebook.
(www.instagram.com/chef_salvatore_cuomo/ - https://m.facebook.com/ChefSalvatoreCuomo/).
The next influencer is Katzumasa Imai, head chef of the Italian restaurant Pepe Rosso in Tokyo. Specialized in hand-kneaded fresh pasta, he proposes Italian regional cuisine in a modern way, with original dishes and high-quality wines. His passion and knowledge for the European food history and for the Italian regional cuisine in particular, in addition to his sensibility, make him a perfect influencer able to share everything about the quality of PDO and PGI deli meat. He tells his 12.5k followers on Instagram (www.instagram.com/kazumasaimai/) about Italian products, recipes and dishes with exceptional posts, always accurate and detailed.
The third influencer for the project Arigat-EU is the food blogger Nicole Fung. Her blog “That Food Cray” (www.thatfoodcray.com) is a beloved global gastronomic, travel and lifestyle online media platform, with a section dedicated to Italian food. The love of her fans is evident also in the social media, where she has 92.3k followers on Instagram and 114.337 on Facebook. The blog “That Food Cray” started in March of 2012, is always looking for ways to creatively tell stories through different mediums, to share news and updates about food and travel experiences. This successful food blog encourages their followers to always experiment. (https://www.instagram.com/thatfoodcray/?utm_source=ig_embed; https://www.facebook.com/ThatFoodCray)
Another influencer selected for 2019 is Andrea Cocco Hirai, famous both in Japan and Italy with a large audience of 112K page likes on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/andreacoccohirai/) and 32.1k followers on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/andreacoccohirai/?hl=en). Besides his newfound passion for cooking that perfectly combines his unique background, his father is Italian and his mother is Japanese, in the creation of one of kind dishes; Andrea is also a well-known actor, TV host and model.
To close the selection of influencers for 2019 is Francesco Bellissimo, a businessman, professional entertainer, and Italian culinary expert and consultant. He is the CEO of BILLIONAIRE INC, as well as the President of the Italian Cooking Association in Japan and has over 265K followers on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/bellissimoyoshi/?hl=en). Acting as a bridge between Italy and Japan, he regularly appears on TV shows and cooking performances, hosts talk shows and lectures and is often featured in magazines and seen in advertisement.