Face to face with: SLOW FOOD | SANA Partner

November 2025

Good, clean, and fair food is not just an ideal: it is a living supply chain made of producers, territories, knowledge, and everyday choices. The collaboration between SANA Food and Slow Food stems from this shared vision and takes shape as a concrete pathway: bringing together those who produce and those who transform, those who cook and those who distribute, those who consume and those who make decisions. After the joint success of the Slow Wine Fair, the partnership is expanding and turning its attention to the out-of-home sector, with the goal of building a restaurant and market model capable of enhancing biodiversity, quality, and people.

We discussed this with Daniele Buttignol, CEO of Slow Food Promozione, to understand what it means today to build networks, create value, and bring sustainability into the everyday world of food.


What motivated Slow Food Promozione to strengthen its partnership with SANA Food?

Slow Food has been collaborating with BolognaFiere for several years, ever since we embarked on the adventure of the Slow Wine Fair, whose first edition was held in 2022.
The roots of this fair dedicated to good, clean, and fair wine lie in the work carried out in the preceding months: the creation, in July 2021, of the Slow Wine Coalition, the global network that brings together all the key players in the supply chain to spark a wine revolution based on environmental sustainability, landscape protection, and the social and cultural growth of rural areas. Producers who recognize and adhere to the Slow Wine manifesto of good, clean, and fair wine.

Going back further, it was in October 2020, during Sana Restart, that we initiated the dialogue with BolognaFiere. The long-standing need felt by the Slow Wine editorial team to bring together and highlight the producers featured in the guide required outlets beyond the Slow Food Editore publication, the many Slow Food events, and the tours in the United States and Asia: it required the creation of a dedicated fair—and BolognaFiere proved to be the ideal partner with whom to develop this project.
Over four editions, we have addressed the key topics related to wine, launching new challenges each year to respond to the needs of a rapidly evolving world, to consumers’ growing sensitivities toward environmental and social issues, and to strengthen our presence in established markets or explore new ones.

Within this context, the collaboration with SANA Food marks a new step in an increasingly synergistic journey. Last February, the combination of SANA Food and Slow Wine Fair attracted over 15,000 professionals and 300 buyers from 15 countries, proving to be a benchmark for those seeking access to new markets in the food & wine sector.

This year, the goal is to broaden the vision by fostering collaboration among operators, creating a leading B2B event in ethical and quality food—an event capable of promoting dialogue between food and wine and highlighting producers and the restaurant industry as key players in the sustainable transition.

What role will your selected producers play within SANA Food?

Producers from the Slow Food networks, deeply rooted in their territories and often small- or medium-scale, will play a proactive role as promoters of production methods attentive to quality, the environment, and social aspects. They are true “guardians of the territory,” representing the backbone of Italy’s food production.

These are products aligned with the philosophy of good, clean, and fair food and with the international campaigns promoted by the association, which exclude synthetic chemicals, GMOs, colorants, and additives. They are producers committed to protecting biodiversity, promoting eco-sustainable agroecological practices, safeguarding soil fertility, managing water responsibly, protecting the landscape, respecting animal welfare, defending raw milk, and promoting sustainable fishing practices.

Their participation in SANA Food will enrich the event with expertise, stories, and best practices: through training sessions, guided tastings, and roundtables, producers will share real examples of sustainable and inclusive supply chains, demonstrating how the Slow Food philosophy can be translated into solutions applicable on a broader scale. Their contribution will be essential in fostering dialogue with restaurateurs, buyers, and sector professionals, opening the door to new connections and collaboration opportunities.

What benefits do you expect from participating in SANA Food?

Participation in SANA Food offers producers invited by Slow Food the opportunity to meet a targeted B2B audience, consistently attentive to issues of quality and environmental sustainability.
SANA Food is a long-established reference point for natural and organic food, allowing Slow Food exhibitors to present their products to operators who are receptive to an ethical production model, strengthening commercial networks and promoting the culture of good, clean, and fair food.