SIGEP World 2025 is once again bringing together the best of the best from the delicious worlds of gelato, pastry, chocolate, bakery, pizza and coffee.
Held on the sunshine shores of Italy’s Adriatic coast, the five-day show is placing innovation at the very top on the agenda. From allergy-free alternatives to sustainable packaging solutions, the industry is proving it’s evolving and growing to meet changing consumer needs.
Here are FoodNavigator’s top five favourites from the show.
1: Gluten-free
The gluten-free trend is on the up, but seeing it making a strong appearance, across sectors, at a major European food and beverage show, marks a clear shift in industry attitudes.
“Gluten-free is growing, as more and more people are diagnosed as celiac or gluten intolerant,” says Nicolò Angileri, founder of gluten-free brand, Chef Nick.
And it’s not just dedicated gluten-free brands embracing the trend. The show is hosting multiple brands, which have diversified into gluten-free, including Ruth’s Cookies, which has allocated equal stand space to its gluten-free range as it has to its gluten-containing offering.
It’s no surprise the industry is increasingly moving into gluten-free, as the global market for gluten-free foods and beverages is expected to expand considerably over the next decade, reaching an estimated 14 billion USD by 2032, according to Statista. That’s more than double its current value of 6.7 billion USD.
2: Sugar free
Sugar reduction has been an important focus for the food and beverage industry over the past five years, with brands innovating to cut levels of the sweet stuff across their product ranges. However, a new development in this trend is the launch of new brands entirely focused on cutting sugar content, in fact most are entirely sugar-free. And, judging by the number of new companies proudly announcing their sugar-free status, this is a fast-growing trend.
“We launched our sugar-free range this year,” says Gian Luca Iazetta. “We realised it’s what a lot of our customers want.”
And what have most brands replaced sugar with? The answer is, unsurprisingly, sweeteners.
“Sugar-free has been growing in popularity for several years now”, says Michela Peirone, marketing manager for gelato brand, Fructital. “We have replaced sugar with stevia across our sugar-free range.”
3: Plant-based
Proving it’s going nowhere, the plant-based trend continues its rise in prominence, and all sectors of the industry are getting involved, including gelato.
“Our range of milk-free gelato is growing as many simply cannot have milk,” says Sandro Frasconi, account executive for gelato brand, Gran Roma.
Furthermore, many are switching to a plant-based diet for environmental and animal-welfare reasons, meaning they’ll welcome the dairy-free option in gelato, even if they can consume milk. And, while the offering of milk-free options may have been limited to only two or three flavours per stand, it’s likely this will grow as consumers have proven it’s a welcome development.
“Our vegan range is very popular,” says Michela Peirone, marketing manager for gelato brand, Fructital, which also offers sugar-free options.
However, there is difference in success across different European markets.
“Our plant-based range is hugely popular across Italy and northern Europe, but less so in other European countries,” says Marco Quadrelli of artisan gelato brand, Emendatori Vayra 1905.
4: Sustainable
Another major trend to emerge from the show was sustainability. Brands have been working to meet the high consumer demand for sustainable options. And while we saw plenty of paper, cardboard and wood, in place of the once-popular plastic, the most innovative and fun option we saw was edible cutlery.
The brainchild of Tiphaine Guerout and Johanna Maurel, French brand, Koovee, is a biscuit-based cutlery, which you eat with and then eat! And the best part is that it comes in sweet and savoury options so is suitable for a plate of pasta or a bowl of gelato. And it can even be used to stir a cup of coffee before being enjoyed as a snack to accompany it.
“Plastic cutlery is not sustainable, and actually wooden cutlery is also a problem as it involves deforestation and uses energy in recycling ,” says Filippo Della Torre, board member and advisor for Koovee. “This is the perfect solution for on-the-go eating and could be used in shops and cafes in place of the current options. There’s no waste.”
And it wasn’t just FoodNavigator impressed with the innovative start-up, the French brand took second place in the Lorenzo Cagnoni Award, presented in recognition of the most innovative start-ups in food and beverage.
5: Elegant
Even just a cursory glance around the show would garner images of exceptional cakes and pastries, designed with an extraordinary level of care, and highlighting the return to elegance in food and beverage.
Recent years have shown a definite decline in fine dining and “fancy” presentation, in favour of a more relaxed and rustic approach. But SIGEP World proved that style and finesse are making a comeback, with countless stands displaying beautiful designs, likened more to a work of art than a sweet treat. And its prevalence at this show implies it’s a trend that’s set to dominate the industry going forward.
“We’ve noticed a definite rise in interest in more elegant and clean lies, over the past couple of years and we’re evolving our range to support this,” says Amanda Spadoni, export area manager for food machinery company, Pavoni Italia. “We serve everyone from independent bakers in their own homes to major food manufacturers.”
6: High Protein
While already popular, the dominant high-protein trend has proven it has serious staying power. In fact, it’s growing, as pizza brand Mitica Pizza Romana proved, with the launch of its high-protein pizza base.
“We want to offer consumers a range of options,” says Lorenzo Aletto, commercial advisor for Mitica Pizza Romana.
But the creatives at Mitica Pizza Romana aren’t the only ones to recognise the importance of developing high-protein options. There are also protein-fortified gelato offerings and protein bread offerings available for attendees to sample.
And it’s for this very reason that the global protein market size is now estimated at $12.15 billion and expanding at a CAGR of 8.5%.
