FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact:   Elissa Ruffino (NIAF) 202/939-3106 or elissa@niaf.org

(Washington, DC – October 9, 2003) Associazione Industrie Dolciarie Italiane (AIDI), confectionary manufacturers in Italy, is a major sponsor of the National Italian American Foundation’s (NIAF) 28th Anniversary Awards Gala, Saturday evening, October 25 at the Hilton Washington & Towers, Washington, DC. AIDI is comprised of numerous confectionary companies, three of which, are Amarelli, Quality Food Group, and Caffarel. These three companies will provide products for the gala events. Their products will be displayed during the weekend, for the 3,000 guests who will be attending the Gala, and the conference weekend luncheons.

Amarelli Fabbrica di Liquirizia s.a.s. is one of the companies of AIDI. After three centuries, the Amarelli company – consisting of thirty European family-owned companies produces quality licorice in the form of nougats, grappa and liqueur. The Museum of the Liquorice “Giorgio Amarelli” won the “Guggenheim Prize for Culture and Business – “Special Prize Il Sole 24 Ore” in 2001.

Quality Food Group, founded three years ago, is the third largest Italian company of baked products. Their products include: biscuits, crackers, wafers, sponge fingers, pastry fingers and chocolate biscuits. Quality Food Group, recently launched “Ti Voglio” (I love you), a new line of biscuits. Most of the Quality Food Group’s market is in Europe, with 60 percent of the sales.

Caffarel was established in 1826 by Paolo Caffarel in Turin, Italy. Characterized by its unique marketing strategies, the Caffarel company is a symbol of the great tradition of chocolate making in the Piedmont region of Italy. The company currently offers more than 600 products including: traditional cocoa-based products, candies, jellies and Marrons Glacès.

During the convention and gala weekend, NIAF will feature conferences, exhibits, the traditional celebrity auction, and seminars on tourism and the Italian American vote. On Friday, October 24, attendees will have the opportunity to have candid discussions with children of some of the most famous Italian Americans of the past at the Children of the Greats conference. Molise is this year’s sponsoring region from Italy.