Introduction: Some two and a half years on from a memorable interview with arguably travel retail’s most ardent gourmet in the unlikely setting of a traditional Hong Kong cha chaan teng (‘tea restaurant’), The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie decided it was time for a second serving.
Or perhaps we should say buongustai rather than gourmet, for the individual in question is Fabrizio Canal, Founder of Food Accademia, a company dedicated to bringing not simply the taste but also the experience of Italy to the world.
On the eve of the show, the two discussed Canal’s mission – one could rightly call it an obsession – with telling myriad Italian stories in the airport environment, through a rare combination of food, drinks and a uniquely Italian experience.
Fabrizio, you founded Food Accademia in 2016 after sensing – and seizing – an opportunity to bring a great and diverse Italian food & drinks offer to travel retail. A decade on, how would you assess where you have got to?
Ten years on, I think the greatest satisfaction is that the original intuition has proved to be right.
When we started Food Accademia in 2016, we believed there was an opportunity to bring a different expression of Italian food and beverage into travel retail – one based not simply on famous names, but on authenticity, regional excellence, craftsmanship and stories that could genuinely engage the international traveller {main interview continues following the panel below}
On the record with Fabrizio CanalOn Food Accademia’s hero product: Perhaps our real hero product is Italy itself – presented not as a cliché, but through the quality, people, territories and stories behind the products. On Italy’s relationship with food: Food is inseparable from our culture and from the way the world perceives the country. On the need to break down retailer buying silos: The traveller, of course, does not think of those organisational silos. They simply see something beautiful, authentic and relevant that they would like to take home. On Italian hospitality: For me, Italian hospitality is not luxury in the conventional sense. It is generosity, quality, beauty, conviviality and making somebody feel welcome – whether through a tasting, a beautiful product, a glass of wine, a perfectly made espresso or an unexpected moment of discovery. On the future: We started by bringing Italian products to travel retail. Our ambition now is to bring the Italian experience to travellers worldwide. |
Today, Food Accademia is a much more mature company, with a portfolio of over 40 premium Italian brands and a presence across different channels and markets. But I still feel we are at the beginning of what is possible.
What has changed most is perhaps our role. We started essentially by bringing brands and products to the market. Today, increasingly, we are asked to bring ideas: how to create a sense of place, how to tell an Italian story in an airport environment, how to turn a product into an experience.
For me, that evolution is probably the best measure of how far we have come.
Tell us about the portfolio today – how it has evolved; what are the standouts and hero products?
The portfolio has evolved considerably, but the principle behind it has remained very consistent: we look for products with authenticity, quality, a strong identity and a story worth telling.
Today we work across several categories – from premium confectionery and chocolate to fine food, bakery, wine and spirits, gifting and other Italian specialties.
But I am increasingly reluctant to think only in terms of individual ‘hero products’. Of course, we have products and brands that perform exceptionally well, but the real strength of Food Accademia is the ability to bring different Italian excellences together and create a coherent proposition for the traveller.
Italy is extraordinarily diverse. Piemonte is not Sicily, Veneto is not Tuscany, and Naples is not Milan. That diversity is one of our greatest assets.
So perhaps our real hero product is Italy itself – presented not as a cliché, but through the quality, people, territories and stories behind the products.
Every entrepreneurial journey has its moments of triumph and tests. What has been your most satisfying moment along the way? And the darkest day?
There have been many satisfying moments, but I don’t think I would choose a single contract or commercial success.
The moments that stay with me are when a concept that began as an idea becomes something real – when you see travellers stopping, discovering a product, tasting something, asking about its origin and eventually taking a little piece of Italy with them.
I also take enormous satisfaction from seeing producers who trusted us at the beginning gaining visibility and success in an international environment that can initially seem very distant from their world.
As for the darkest day, entrepreneurship inevitably brings difficult moments. There have been disappointments, projects we strongly believed in that did not happen, and periods when external circumstances forced us to rethink plans very quickly.
But I have learned not to define the journey by its darkest day. Difficult moments are part of building a company. What matters is whether you still have the energy and curiosity the following morning to start again.
Anybody in particular who has inspired and helped you along the way?
Many people have.
First of all, the entrepreneurs and families behind the brands we represent. Some of these companies have been making extraordinary products for generations.
Spending time with them reminds you that real quality cannot be manufactured by marketing – it comes from knowledge, patience and an almost obsessive attention to detail.
I have also learned enormously from people within travel retail: retailers, buyers, airport operators and colleagues who challenged our assumptions and helped us understand what works – and, equally importantly, what does not work – in this very particular channel.
And inspiration often comes from conversations rather than formal advice. One of the privileges of travel retail is that you meet remarkable people from different cultures and backgrounds. If you remain curious, you are constantly learning.
Since we met in Hong Kong in early 2024 for that unforgettable – in many ways – lunch interview in 2024, the fine foods sector has really gained momentum with many travel retailers, particularly around destination-related food. You focus (mostly) on a single country’s products – have you seen similar acceleration?
Absolutely. And I think the acceleration confirms something we have believed for a long time: food is one of the most immediate and emotional ways to create a sense of place.
For Italy, this is particularly powerful because food is inseparable from our culture and from the way the world perceives the country. In an Italian airport, therefore, the opportunity is obvious: authentic Italian food can give travellers a final and memorable connection with the destination.
The New Five Dragon is not gourmet fare. It is a traditional Hong Kong cha chaan teng (‘tea restaurant’), café-like venues that form an integral part of the vibrant local dining scene. The vibe is more 1970s than 2020s, the service as quick as a Usain Bolt 100-metre sprint with roughly the same amount of dialogue. The waiting staff are in charge, not the guests, and leave you in no doubt about the pecking order. – From The Moodie Blog’s description of our 2024 interview with Fabrizio Canal
But our ambition goes beyond Italy.
We believe that the strength of Italian food, lifestyle and hospitality can be translated into an Italian retail concept that can travel anywhere in the world – to an airport in Asia, the Middle East or the Americas, a cruise ship, or even an airline catering experience.
In that sense, we are taking the idea of sense of place one step further. The place does not necessarily have to be where you physically are; it can also be a place you are invited to discover.
Our vision is not simply to create a shop selling Italian products. It is to create a recognisable window into Italy, where carefully selected products, regional stories, food, wine, gifting and hospitality come together in one coherent experience.
Perhaps this is the natural evolution of what we started ten years ago: from bringing Italian products to the world, to bringing an Italian experience to the world.
And yes, I still remember that Hong Kong lunch very well! Perhaps some interviews are better conducted over a good table than in a meeting room.
You told me in 2024 that you face challenges with some retailers who lack a specialist buyer for the category. Has that changed? And how do you overcome such challenges?
It has improved, but the structural challenge has not completely disappeared.
Fine food is a complex category because it crosses traditional purchasing boundaries. Chocolate may sit with confectionery, wine with wines & spirits, gourmet products somewhere else, and gifting somewhere else again.
The traveller, of course, does not think of those organisational silos. They simply see something beautiful, authentic and relevant that they would like to take home.
Our approach has therefore been to make things easier for the retailer. Rather than presenting a collection of individual products and expecting the buyer to construct the proposition, we increasingly develop concepts and solutions that bring categories together.
That is an important evolution for Food Accademia: from product supplier to solution provider and, increasingly, to a hospitality partner. I believe the future of the category lies precisely there.
How would you sum up Food Accademia’s DNA?
We are very proud of being Italian, but our ambition has never been simply to export Italian products. We want to translate the best of Italian food culture and hospitality into something meaningful for an international traveller.
That distinction is important.
Food Accademia brings together producers, products, territories and stories that would normally be presented separately. Our role is increasingly to connect those elements and transform them into a coherent retail and hospitality proposition.
For me, Italian hospitality is not luxury in the conventional sense. It is generosity, quality, beauty, conviviality and making somebody feel welcome – whether through a tasting, a beautiful product, a glass of wine, a perfectly made espresso or an unexpected moment of discovery.
So, if I had to define our DNA in one sentence, I would say: We don’t simply want to sell Italian products around the world. We want people around the world to experience Italy.
You are exhibiting in Cannes this year. Last year you underscored the company’s continued expansion, featuring a portfolio that spanned more than 40 premium Italian brands. Any highlights we should look out for this year?
This year in Cannes, I would like people to look beyond the number of brands in our portfolio.
Of course, we will present new products and new proposals from our Italian partners, but the bigger story is what we can create by bringing those brands together.
Over the past ten years, Food Accademia has built a unique portfolio of Italian excellence. The next step is to use that portfolio as the foundation for Italian retail and hospitality concepts designed specifically for the travel environment.
That could mean a dedicated Italian retail space in an airport, a food and gifting concept, a hospitality experience on a cruise ship, or potentially a curated Italian proposition within airline catering.
The format can change according to the channel and location, but the idea remains the same: a recognisable Italian experience combining product, storytelling, taste and hospitality.
So, Cannes this year is not only about showing what we are selling. Increasingly, it is about showing what we can create together with retailers and travel partners.
What’s next for Food Accademia?
The next chapter for Food Accademia is about becoming more international without becoming less Italian.
For our first ten years, we built the portfolio, the relationships and the credibility. Now I believe we have the opportunity to build something larger on those foundations.
Our ambition is to develop Food Accademia into a platform for Italian retail and hospitality concepts that can be replicated and adapted across international travel environments – airports, cruise lines and, increasingly, airlines.
Not a rigid format that looks identical everywhere, but a recognisable concept with a strong DNA that can adapt to different spaces, travellers and commercial models while remaining unmistakably Italian.
That means moving progressively from products to concepts, and from concepts to experiences.
Ten years ago, our question was: How can we bring the best Italian products into travel retail?
Today, the question is: How can we bring the best of Italy into the travel experience – wherever in the world that journey takes place? That is the next chapter of Food Accademia.
And a final message to the trade on the eve of TFWA World Exhibition?
Travel retail has an extraordinary opportunity today. Travellers are not only looking for products; they are looking for authenticity, discovery and experiences they can remember.
For us, Italy offers an incredible source of all three. Our role is to take the quality, diversity and hospitality of Italy and translate it into experiences that can travel – across airports, cruise lines and airlines, anywhere in the world.
After ten years, I believe Food Accademia is entering a new chapter. We started by bringing Italian products to travel retail. Our ambition now is to bring the Italian experience to travellers worldwide.
Because ultimately, we don’t simply want travellers to buy Italy. We want them to experience it, remember it – and want to come back to it. ✈
