By Charlie Pogacar
Picture the biggest trade show you’ve ever been to—now double it. That image might get you close to the reality of SIGEP World, the five-day show that just wrapped up in Rimini, Italy, showcasing gelato, coffee, pastry, baking and, of course, pizza.
Held January 16–20 at the Rimini Expo Centre, SIGEP once again positioned itself as a global meeting point for foodservice operators, with representation from more than 160 countries and strong growth in international exhibitors. The pizza section of the show was a sprawling maze of towering booths touting ovens, flour mills, sauces and ingredients. Many booths had pizza makers dutifully churning out airy samples for eager attendees.
The value of the booths stretched beyond the pizza section, too, as a scoop of gelato might push some to wonder: Should I offer this at my shop? The same goes for the booths offering espresso and baked goods beyond pizza—possible revenue streams some may not have yet considered.
Related: At SIGEP World 2026, Pizza Steps Onto a Bigger Stage
Giovanni Labbate, owner of Tievoli Pizza Bar in Palatine, Illinois, and a member of the U.S. Pizza Team was in attendance mostly to compete at SIGEP World’s Pizza Senza Frontiere—a three-day competition with more than a dozen categories. But he believed the value of the show itself extended beyond Pizza Senza Frontiere.
“If you come here, you get a chance just to see what everyone else is doing,” he said. “There’s equipment, ideas, processes—you start thinking about how you can bring something back to your shop and do it better or differently.”
Vitangelo “Vito” Recchia of Bella Napoli Pizzeria in Port Charlotte, Florida, echoed that sentiment, especially when it came to access. “There are a lot of companies here that already do business in the U.S., and a lot that don’t,” he said. “Being here lets you have real conversations—sometimes you’re getting in early on something that could eventually make its way to the American market.”
Recchia also pointed out a less obvious advantage: price transparency. Buying equipment at SIGEP often means negotiating directly with manufacturers, sometimes at show pricing that can significantly undercut domestic options. “At the end of the day, an oven is an oven,” he said. “You start realizing how much of what we pay back home is about branding versus function.”
Recchia pointed out that SIGEP runs with a sense of structure and organization that feels distinctly European. Competition schedules are regimented. Access is controlled—at many espresso booths, for example, samples required a meeting with the company’s representatives. According to a press release from SIGEP World, 5,650 business meetings took place at the show.
That mindset was on full display during Pizza Senza Frontiere, the international pizza competition held within the show. More than 600 pizzaioli from over 45 countries competed across a wide range of categories, from classic and Neapolitan styles to pan pizza, pizza fritta, dessert pizza and freestyle events. Full competition results will live in a separate PMQ story, but the presence of so many working professionals—many of them shop owners—reinforced how seriously the craft is taken on a global stage.
Several members of the U.S. Pizza Team were on the ground in Rimini, including Labbate, Recchia, Sean Dempsey, George and Patti Taylor and Craig Allenbaugh and Deserai Satullo of Sauced Wood Fired Pizza. Dempsey did the team proud by taking home a world title in the Pizza al Dessert category, while Labbate took home third place in the Pizza e Birra (pizza and beer) category.
As nice as it was to stand on the podium at the end of the day, Labbate stressed that the value he took away from SIGEP World was the camaraderie—even in a foreign land, the homeland of pizza. For the eight members of the U.S. Pizza Team who made the trip—and the countless others who flocked to SIGEP World for the experience—the sense of community is what will keep them coming back.
“You’re watching each other, asking questions, borrowing things if you need to,” Labbate said. “Everyone wants to get better. That’s what it’s about.”
