“Development of the authentic med gastronomy route cluster and the co-sharing of an exhibition booth”

1. “Development of the authentic med gastronomy route cluster and the co-sharing of an exhibition booth” CUT’s Team Coordinator: Maria Kapardis Presented by: Iphigenia Pavlou Cyprus University of Technology Bologna, 18th September 2013

2. PACMAn Project Pilot Action on Internationalization Pilot actions represent the concrete networking phase carried out on agro-food segments that were selected previously, during the project inception process and are based on their prospective networking capacity and multiplying the positive effects in the partners’ territorial agro-food. In the pilot action of internationalization the participating partners were: Cyprus University of Technology as coordinators of the action, Kilkis Chamber of Commerce, ADRAL and Provence of Modena.

3. PACMAn Project Internationalization Rationale behind the pilot action: There are two ways to approach the internationalisation process: • penetrate into foreign markets by entering into the complex supply chains, thereby taking the products from the place of production to the potential foreign consumer • attract foreign consumers to the place of production in the form of gastronomy tourism Barriers • Agro-food products are usually produced by small enterprises with limited financial capabilities to expand into foreign markets • It is evident that micro SMEs face a number of limitations and constraints in entering foreign markets, especially distant ones (Asia, North America), since the cost of entering is high, especially with regard to market information gathering and marketing actions

4. PACMAn Project Pilot Action • Since experience has proven that there are high barriers to entry in foreign markets and cannot easily be overcome even through cluster formation or similar synergies, we choose the second route to internationalisation and hence the cluster formation focuses on the creation of a gastronomy route across the Med-Europe regions. • The gastronomy route is enhanced by the fact that the Med area of which PACMAN partners form part of, produces agrofoods of a truly Mediterranean nature that closely resemble the characteristics of a highly praised Mediterranean diet. • The cluster approach thus suggests the creation of a gastronomy route from Portugal to Cyprus covering the whole Med-region in an effort to promote its development and support its sustainability. • The gastronomy route will aim to promote the regional gastronomic brand based on the common theme of the authentic Mediterranean products and must be initiated by the local agrofood producers in an effort to attract foreign consumers into their region and hence their premises.

5. PACMAn Project Pilot Action • Our novel approach, supported through this pilot action, focuses on the reversal of the above mentioned route by: • Direct sales • Elimination of market and distribution costs • Elimination of negotiation weaknesses • Reduction of competition among multinational products with similarities • Focus on the local aspect of production rather than the export complexities that are seen as high barriers to entry in foreign markets • The cluster will be initiated by the local agrofood SMEs and their regional boards. It will aim to provide an umbrella to common marketing and branding approaches of gastronomy tourism activities promoting regions and products that resemble the characteristics of a truly Mediterranean scenery.

6. PACMAn Project Pilot Action • The agrofood products promoting their respective regions must fulfil specific characteristics namely: • Mediterranean origin • produced from pure agricultural raw materials • authentic in the sense that they possess unique characteristics linked to tradition and culture • With this pilot action we aim to investigate the potential for creating the basic infrastructure of a European wide Authentic Mediterranean gastronomy route Cluster that can accommodate micro SMEs from different regions/ countries producing different products (with a set of common med-type characteristics).

7. Gastronomu Route Map

8. PACMAn Project • The Pilot Action took place from the 17th-19th of May 2013 in Nicosia, Cyprus in the premises of the exhibition “Travel 2013” where Pacman partners and their guests stakeholders had the opportunity to promote their traditional products which will be included in the culinary route. • On the 17th of May, after the opening of the exhibition by two government ministers, we held a 3 hour seminar on agro food and agro food production where representatives of all partners presented their experience and knowledge on the issue. The seminar/workshop attended approx. 100 people. • 8000 people visited the booth/exhibition (based on the tickets sales) of which 2500 took the PACMAN brochure and the leaflets made available by all participating partners. • 35 Stakeholders involved in the networking activities, 9 SMEs, and 4 SME organizations.

9. PACMAn Project Pilot Action Qualitative results: • It proved a unique experience to a share a common booth, with common themes among partner regions and it has attracted significant attention in the exhibition. A potential of a med-wide gastronomy route focusing on the support of local agrofood SMEs is a proven potential tool. • A Possible future co-operation links has been established on the concept of the authentic med gastronomy route, covering a bundle of agrofood routes such as: • Olive gastronomy route – a project discussed initially among Cyprus and Portuguese academic and consultancy stakeholders aiming to capitalise on the know-how already established by the Portuguese region for the purpose • Aromatic herbs gastronomy route – a project discussed among Cypriot and Greek partner regions, (Troodos & Kilkis) possessing a common heritage and floral abundance of herbs, especially lavender and oregano

10. PACMAn Project Impacts of the Pilot Action • Innovation: • The notion of a cross border, gastronomy route cluster is on its own an innovative form of networking. The proposed bundle of thematic gastronomy routes which together would form the proposed innovative med route concept is a wide approach of cluster formation that is initiated both by regional authorities as well as local agrofood SMEs for the purpose of attracting visitors in their regions and subsequently in their small workshops • Internationalization: • The internationalization aspect is clear cut, as it involves the creation of a multinational Med cluster that aims to support and promote SMEs activities with a focus gastronomy tourism. • Networking: • Cluster formation is a formal way of networking between SME actors across the selected Mediterranean regions. The pilot action has achieved to create several networking activities, because of the relatively large number of stakeholders involved in the pilot action. • Sustainability: • Stakeholders will have the opportunity to exchange ideas on the sustainability model and its role in the proposed cluster formation.

11. PACMAn Project Pictures from the Event

12. Pictures from the Event

13. Pictures from the Event

14. Pictures from the Event

15. Pictures from the Event

16. Pictures from the Event

17. Thank you for your attention! Contact e-mails: iphigenia.pavlou@cut.ac.cy maria.kapardis@cut.ac.cy