In 2024, SIMEI will be hosting Distillo, an area dedicated to distillation, which is currently experiencing a phase of worldwide expansion.

The artisan distillation sector has seen a revival, starting from the United States and in much the same way as beer. There, in about twenty years it has reached almost three thousand active companies. Europe, on the other hand, which has a long tradition of distillation, began a few years later. Countries such as England, linked to few and large producers, has now surpassed Scotland (which has not stood still either) in terms of the number of smoking stills, with over two hundred companies, mainly focused on the production of gin. France, which started quietly, has gone much further. Relying on its solid distilling tradition, dozens of distilleries have sprung up, including over a hundred producing whisky.

After decades at a standstill in terms of new openings, Italy began its path of growth a few years ago with at least thirty new companies already active or emerging and with the forecast of twenty openings every year for the next five years. Existing producers have also started to renovate, introducing new products such as whisky too.

The premium spirits market has proven its resistance to all kinds of crisis, so much so that the American boom began in 2006-2007, in the midst of the financial crisis. Studies carried out in recent years on the global growth of the spirits sector worldwide predicted an increase in the value of the sector in the region of 25% per year between 2020 and 2024. The forecasts are essentially turning out to be accurate, and Italy is no exception to this general trend.

DISTILLO EXPO, combined with SIMEI's wide variety of exhibitors, aims to welcome international traders and producers and will be strengthening its educational hub with a large space dedicated to seminars with international speakers.

DISTILLO EXPO stemmed from an idea of Claudio Riva and Davide Terziotti, owners of Craft Distilling, a company born from the thirty-year experience of the founders in the field of spirits.