Scheduled · January
For artisan gelato companies, pastry shops, machinery and ingredient suppliers for gelato and coffee, coffee roasters, training schools, Horeca chains and international buyers animating the five days of SIGEP International Trade Show for Gelato, Pastry, Bakery and Coffee at the Rimini exhibition centre and needing branded apparel, visitor giveaways, gifts for international buyers, hospitality for the competitions and materials for the competition halls — delivered in time for the halls’ opening.
SIGEP — International Trade Show for Gelato, Pastry, Bakery and Coffee — is the world’s most important trade fair dedicated to the white-art sector and each January it brings more than 150,000 visitors to Fiera Rimini between sector operators, international buyers, pastry chefs and gelato makers, coffee roasters, training schools and specialised press. For artisan gelato companies, pastry shops, machinery and ingredient suppliers, coffee roasters and Horeca chains taking part, the five days compress dozens of international competitions (Gelato World Cup, Italian Pastry, Bakery and Coffee Championships), presentations of new machinery and ingredients, and meetings with the international buyer network, and B2B merchandising has to respect the tight build-up calendar that precedes the first day.
For a merch programme around SIGEP, Corp-Merch.IT runs the full supply chain from the Milan hub: intake of the gelato company or pastry chef’s master graphic files (AI, EPS, PDF/X-4 with CMYK images at 300 dpi), art adaptation for the different decoration methods (digital print on GOTS-certified organic cotton, water-based screen-printing on branded T-shirts and sweatshirts, embroidery on work aprons and lab polos, laser engraving on Maniago metal accessories, FSC-certified food-packaging print, hot stamping on Scandicci small leather goods), physical pre-production sample with Pantone colour map and technical sheet, production on Italian districts (Como textiles for cotton and technical lab fabrics, Scandicci leather for small leather goods, Murano glass for numbered limited editions dedicated to the confectionery sector, Faenza ceramics for collectable miniatures, Maniago blades and small accessories, FSC-certified packaging on the Emilia district) and delivery to the Fiera Rimini stand on slots the company lead has agreed. For programmes serving several companies or several brands we split into lots labelled per recipient, with distinct delivery addresses if the marketing director wants a share of the kit routed to the Fiera Rimini press room or to the competitions’ hospitality area.
The SIGEP audience is multi-layered: the artisan gelato maker who follows the Gelato World Cup presentations, the pastry chef who follows the Italian Championship, the machinery and ingredient supplier who wants a distinctive object for their own clients, the international buyer who follows the B2B meeting calendar, the accredited press that follows every press conference, the crews of broadcasters and content creators who animate SIGEP’s calendar with presentations and tests, the representatives of the professional training schools who accompany the competition teams, the delegations of Horeca chains who follow next year’s price list. Each tier wants something different: the gelato maker wants a branded object they carry through the day; the pastry chef wants a distinctive, well-finished object that lasts; the supplier wants a coordinated kit for their own clients; the buyer wants an object coordinated with next year’s price list; the press wants a small, well-finished object that fits in luggage; the broadcaster wants a practical kit they can use through the five days. A merch programme that respects those six tiers almost always converts better than one that tries to address all of them with the same item.
A recurring case for our clients is merchandising for the Gelato World Cup competition halls, where the national team receives in a few days dozens of visitors between specialised press, international jury and competition fans. In these jobs we propose a neutral graphic base — coordinated marks on branded T-shirts, branded hoodie, organic cotton bag, branded lab apron — and add the competition’s details in a second wave at short run, so that each visitor finds a coordinated keepsake of the competition. Printing quality on FSC-certified paper and organic cotton is a frequent request from companies attentive to the environmental claim, and we handle it with screen-printing and food-packaging partners registered with FSC and GOTS certification circuits.
Most gelato companies, pastry shops and coffee roasters running a merch programme for SIGEP coordinate their Italian operations from Milan, from Rimini or from Emilia-Romagna. The Milan hub lets us consolidate graphic files and Pantone references with the company team, run the pre-production sample on Italian districts (Como textiles, Scandicci leather, Murano glass, Faenza ceramics, Maniago blades, Emilia packaging) and dispatch the lot to the Fiera Rimini stand on a 24-to-36-hour courier slot from the Lombardy–Emilia-Romagna corridor. For programmes pairing an Italian company with an international distribution partner we handle bilingual materials (Italian and English at minimum) and, on request, full multilingual release with text translations aligned with ISO 17100. For programmes pairing SIGEP with Sigep Vision (the autumn event dedicated to the Horeca sector) we replicate the logistics across both dates with a single operations contact and a dedicated MOQ schedule for the annual volume.
The SIGEP window is short but the merch programme has to be planned against a calendar that includes the two build-up days opening on the preceding Thursday, the five public days from Saturday to Wednesday, the international competition calendar (Gelato World Cup, Italian Pastry, Bakery and Coffee Championships), the B2B meeting calendar with international buyers and the new-machinery and new-ingredient presentations. For gelato companies and pastry shops the gap between the participation confirmation and the first Salone day is usually under eight weeks, and any object that has to be on the stand, in the Fiera Rimini press room or in the Gelato World Cup competition hall for the first day must be locked and shipped at least one week before the debut. We work backwards from that hour: production must close two to three weeks before the debut; the courier slot must be booked for the Tuesday or Wednesday of Salone week; the addressee list must be finalised at the same time as the competition confirmations; the single product’s details (name, communications claim, technical code) only add a small reprint to an already produced neutral base.
For teams following SIGEP from Milan or abroad we also handle the kit in two waves: a pre–SIGEP shipment that arrives on Tuesday or Wednesday of Salone week at Fiera Rimini, and a post–SIGEP shipment that returns any unused items to the company’s office for storage until the next Salone. This split is a frequent ask because the audience of visitors and accredited guests who actually take a Salone souvenir home is far smaller than the stand or competition hall audience, and most companies do not want surplus kit left in Rimini after the closing day.
Branded T-shirts and sweatshirts with the company’s logo and seasonal claim, split by size and recipient; branded lab aprons for the competition teams; Scandicci small leather goods with the brand engraved for press and buyer kits.
FSC-certified paper notebooks, drinkware coordinated with the Salone’s colours, premium pens and small accessories for the accredited press following every press conference through the five Salone days.
Branded FSC-certified food packaging, coordinated shoppers for fast distribution during B2B meetings, small accessories coordinated with next year’s price list.
Faenza ceramic miniatures dedicated to the confectionery sector, blown Murano glass for the one-off pieces, Scandicci small leather goods with the brand engraved, reserved for the collector and the international competition fan.
Before production kicks off we lock master graphic files, per-company and per-recipient quantities, packaging and the named pickup point. The final delivery address is confirmed against the company’s marketing direction calendar and the pastry shop’s logistics lead: the delegation’s reference hotel in Rimini, the Fiera Rimini stand for material destined to the company, or the company office in Milan for programmes that stay in Lombardy. The access constraints at the Fiera Rimini pavilions condition the loading slots, which is why most teams opt for early-morning or post–20:00 deliveries, when heavy goods vehicles are again admitted in the central zones.
For an Italian programme routed via Milan, deliveries are consolidated at the hub and shipped to Rimini with 24–36-hour windows via BRT, SDA, GLS or DHL Express Italia, by appointment for venues that require phone pre-notice. For programmes above 1,000 pieces we offer appointment delivery with phone pre-notice and, on request, on-site set-up by our staff at the Fiera Rimini stand or at the Gelato World Cup competition hall. For materials that require controlled-environment conditions (FSC-certified paper, food packaging, small leather goods, Murano glass for numbered limited editions, Faenza ceramics for miniatures) we coordinate climate-controlled transport with specialised partners. For kits destined to international delegations we manage multilingual labelling (Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic) and tamper-evident pouches with a bilingual packing list addressed to the recipient. For clients subject to CSRD reporting (D.Lgs. 125/2024, transposing Directive (EU) 2022/2464) we attach a sustainability data sheet per order with a Scope 3 CO₂e estimate following the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain on the Milan–Emilia-Romagna route and from the production districts involved, with material and leg-level disaggregation useful for the client’s sustainability statement.
All Italian B2B orders are invoiced in EUR at the standard 22% VAT rate (with reduced 4%, 5% and 10% rates applied where the product category allows: publishing, art objects, GI-labelled food) and routed through the Agenzia delle Entrate’s Sistema di Interscambio (SdI) to the buyer’s codice destinatario or PEC address. Corp-Merch.IT is a registered Italian VAT operator, listed on VIES for intra-EU operations, and handles reverse charge, split payment and pubblica-amministrazione self-invoicing under current Italian rules.
Ten to twelve weeks is the safest window for production in Italy and shipping to the Fiera Rimini stand or to the delegation’s reference hotel. Eight to nine weeks work when the product mix is simple, the company’s graphics have already been approved and the quantities are already defined. For companies pairing SIGEP with Sigep Vision we replicate the lots across both dates.
Only after the Salone organisation confirms the build-up slot, the loading lane and the named recipient. Most teams combine Fiera Rimini with a Rimini hotel or with the company’s office. For the first build-up days we propose delivery to the stand with 24-hour phone pre-notice.
Yes. The gelato or pastry company’s merchandise, the press room gifts, the international buyer distribution and the Gelato World Cup competition hall kits can be packed and labelled as separate lots, with different delivery addresses if the company has more than one brand in or more than one destination (for example the Rimini hotel for the delegation, the Fiera Rimini stand for the company, the Milan office for storage). For programmes involving several companies we replicate the lots per company and consolidate in cases labelled per logistics node.
No. Corp-Merch.IT is an independent external B2B supplier that helps gelato companies, pastry shops, coffee roasters and buyers prepare their own merch around SIGEP. It does not organise, sponsor or represent SIGEP, Italian Exhibition Group or Fiera Rimini.
Corp-Merch.IT is an independent external B2B supplier for gelato companies, pastry shops, coffee roasters and buyers participating in SIGEP. This page helps gelato companies, pastry shops, coffee roasters and buyers prepare their own merch around the Salone. It does not represent SIGEP, Italian Exhibition Group or Fiera Rimini.