Just outside Bologna, FICO is the world’s largest food park. Food from all over Italy is on display in a huge 100,000 square metre area that used to be a wholesale market in the 1980s.
Helpfully, FICO has installed a selfie platform in front of the sign.
The complex took 4 years to complete, cost €120 million, and works with more than 150 Italian companies. It was opened in November 2017.
The entrance has a wall of apples, along with a sign asking you not to take them. The sign above the entrance informs us that there are 1200 varieties of apples in Europe, 1000 of which are in Italy.
Inside there is an amazing display of producers, offering people of all ages classes in the history of food, the relationship between humans and nature and the importance of eating well.
There are 45 eateries all with visible kitchens, many offering hands on involvement with visitors. There are pizza and pasta making classes among other things.
There is a farm area with animals.
It was a bit cold and too early in the season to wander in the crop growing area…another day.
Most of all there is food, glorious food, starting with the delicious Napolitana pizza we had for lunch.
It was a tough choice with so much to choose from.
There is a beach volley ball court and other sporting activities. You can ride bikes around the space.
Of course wine regions are covered well.
There is Italian cookware and homewares.
When FICO opened there was quite a lot of negative press. Many people felt that it was the IKEA of Italian food. I can understand this. I would rather wander in the gorgeous market streets in Bologna, Florence or countless other towns and villages, but I spend 6 months each year in Italy and have time to do this. Not everyone does.
Eataly World offers a very well presented overview of wonderful Italian produce, a great place to gather information. I found many brands I recognised and lots of new ones.
We saw people of all nationalities there, mostly Italians. There were lots of school groups, very young children to high school students. I don’t know whether is achieving its goal of 10,000 people a day, but it was certainly popular the day we visited. We arrived early, before it became busy, which is when most of these photos were taken, but by the time we left mid afternoon most of the eateries were full.
We took the shuttle bus from Bologna to Fico. The bus stop is opposite Central Station. We finally found the bus stop and then had to find a place to buy bus tickets. A very helpful man at the Tabacchi behind the gelateria nearby sold us our return tickets (€7 each) and made sure we knew where to catch the bus.
Buses leave every 30 minutes on the hour and half hour and take 20 minutes to get to Fico.