For five days in January, the food world’s attention was on Italy’s Rimini Fiera, where the 36th International exhibition for the artisan production of gelato, pastry, confectionery and bakery (SIGEP) attracted unprecedented numbers.

More than 187,000 visitors walked around the 110,000sq m space, an increase of 8 per cent on last year and almost double the amount of visitors in the past five years. Within these numbers, foreign visitors rose more than 10 per cent, with the event prompting almost 300,000 posts on Twitter.

Held alongside the AB Tech Expo, the bakery sector increased its space at this year’ edition, bringing together the entire production and distribution chain, including key players in artisan and semi-industrial businesses. A series of workshops and seminars were also on offer for bakery professionals, including sessions on innovative packaging and new trends in bread stores, along with a workshop for making bakery specialties and demonstrations on how to use semi-industrial machinery.

The event, which has changed from triennial to biennial frequency, will be back in 2017, was home to several prestigious international competitions, including sugar, pastry and chocolate championships.

This year’s “The Star of Sugar” went to Japanese competitor Yoshiaki Nagamune, with The Netherlands, Belgium and Italy all recognised in the “International Bread in the City Contest”.

Australia received mentions in the gelato sector, with Sydney’s Gelateria Pasticceria Papa taking out third place in the “A Thousand Ideas for a New Gelato Flavour” Competition. Local barista Julian Dammanhayn also took home honours in the “Barista and Farmer” category.

The 2016 program already includes the Gelato World Cup (the Italian team was selected at SIGEP Gelato d ́Oro 2015) and The Pastry Queen world championship, with the world ́s best female pastry chefs invited to showcase their most innovative creations. Both SIGEP and the AB Tech Expo will be back in 2017, having been changed from triennial to biennial event.