Fabrizio Salce, Journalist with an Italian and Swiss card, who for 25 years has been dealing with food and gastronomy for TV, radio and newspapers, his main collaborations are with TVs: Mediaset, Rai Expo, Tg2 Eat Parade and the Swiss channel Tele Ticino. He also collaborates on the Agrisapori TV program, a weekly program broadcast on 100 local Italian stations. On the radio he currently holds a gastronomic column on Radio Latte e Miele, while collaborating with various generalist and sector web and print publications, among which Madìa, the Agricultural Entrepreneur, Terre del Vino and Informacibo stand out.
With the newspapers you collaborate with, how did you deal with this pandemic and the consequent great difficulty in the restaurant sector?
«Given that as a journalist I am operating on several fronts, from TV to radio through the web and print media, from March 2020 some of the jobs that I regularly carried out on a regular basis have suffered a setback. TV on everything, since companies no longer let television crews enter the premises because they feared it was too dangerous. Even the events sector is among those that have faced a longer and more drastic stop and for those who, like me, regularly attended events and fairs, the block was total with severe operational and economic consequences.
When it became clear that the situation would not be resolved within a few months, I managed to carry on the radio column and to expand the articles for the web and for some sector magazines, giving voice to the many companies, especially wineries, which they have seen product requests drop significantly or with online sales that are not very profitable because they are just born. The strategy that allowed me to always remain operational was the simplest: talking about deserving territories, products and restaurateurs, seasoning the articles with an invitation to the public to remember what they read to make the most of it as soon as it will be possible to return to a situation of greater normality».
From your point of view as a journalist in the sector, how have food and catering companies changed communication in this period? Are there any initiatives that particularly impressed you and that you wanted to highlight?
«The monopoly of the web on other market and communication places has been sanctioned to all intents and purposes, if there was still a need: everyone, indifferently, had to turn to digital to promote their work. A communication initiative that made the most of the possibilities of the internet, with surprising results, was the one implemented by the Robiola di Roccaverano Dop Consortium which turned a dramatic situation into an optimal one. The Consortium informed the press that the producers were throwing away the milk due to the closure of the local restaurants and markets, the largest part of the robiola market, kindly asking for help. The response was surprising, newspapers of all kinds, national and local, took care of it and the message was received very well by the consumers who took action with the buying groups. The producers organized themselves with deliveries and the year 2020 ended with a small, but real, increase in production. Keep in mind that we are talking about a niche cheese from southern Piedmont produced by only 17 family companies, not a product that can be found throughout Italy. The case was studied by the University of Turin and Milan as a phenomenon of circular economy. "
How did your readers react? Have you noticed a greater sensitivity to certain issues related to the world of food? In your opinion, has there been an increase in attention to this sector?
«Readers, as well as TV viewers and web users, have increased but this is because people have been forced to stay at home. The same goes for those who, having time, have indulged in home cooking on several occasions. But this is the sign of a historical passage, still partly confused, which is not only the result of the pandemic. On the one hand, there are all those who are “subscribers” to the delivery and who order fashion products at home, such as hamburgers or sushi-like. I say similar because real sushi is another story. The deafening publicity and comfort prevail over the pleasure of shopping, cooking and enjoying one's work. I do not judge anyone: everyone is a child of his time. On the other hand, however, there are more and more consumers who are passionate about good food and good wine who ask for news, who document themselves, who want healthy and “tasty” information. This is not just a consequence of the lockdown and the large amount of time we have been spending at home for a year now.It is the result of decades of work, of those who in recent years have communicated the production chains with passion and seriousness. Only 25 years ago, when I started dealing with agriculture and food and wine, talking about a cured meat on TV was disqualifying: let's not forget it ».
After the pandemic, and when finally we can really talk about a restart, how do you think communication in the food sector will change? Which channels should be privileged and which do you think have had their day?
«I state that the web is not to be considered a media but a world. Starting from this consideration, I am however sure that we have not yet arrived at the moment to favor a channel, whether it is TV or social media. We will get there with time, today in communication it is still necessary to follow the path of omnichannel. Instead, it is very important to distinguish between good and bad communication. It is important to offer reliable content, true, serious and verified information. There is a need for journalists and communicators who go looking for news, who document themselves with curiosity and love of knowledge. This is because real web customers are looking for real news, interesting articles and verified sources. In one word: content. A post or ad that's just funny, emotional, or aesthetically beautiful doesn't survive in the long run. In recent months we have understood very well that the virtual is not the real. What seemed like the alternative at the beginning of the pandemic, a world of online relationships and experiences, has already bored us and, above all, it has become clear that we don't like it that much. The network has an extraordinary value but must be exploited intelligently otherwise there is a risk that it will only convey superficiality and banalities, that is the negative side of simplification ».
Do you have any future projects in the works that you want to anticipate?
«In this period talking about future projects is not easy. The truest project is that I still want to work, to learn, to communicate. I still want to discover territories and products that I do not know, to meet new people, to compare myself and to grow, even if I am no longer a boy. I have the hope that things can return to normal, for everyone's life and for my work. I would like, for a few more years, to return to follow events, from the largest to the smallest ones and with TV services, my greatest passion. I would like to see and hear the new generations talk about agriculture and food with the same passion and curiosity that I had and who have also had many colleagues who are no longer young like myself. Remember that without information there is no communication and without communication there is no life. Unfortunately I didn't write it but one of the greatest Italian writers of the 1900s: Primo Levi ».
