Eataly is world renowned for flawlessly serving nutella, pasta, and cheese lovers at the New York, Chicago, and Turin, Italy locations. However, Eataly is taking its fundamental Italian food philosophy used to create the three superstores and blowing it out of the park. Last week, founder Oscar Farinetti announced that the growing brand will be launching a 20 acre theme park, entitled none other than “Eataly World,” which will open in Bologna, Italy in September, 2017. Most people are pretty familiar with the concept of Seaworld and Lego Land, but because Eataly World is the first of its kind, it boasts the question what exactly is a food theme park? Evidently, the answer to this question has stunned foodies and non foodies alike worldwide.
Last week, founder Oscar Farinetti announced that the growing brand will be launching a 20 acre theme park, entitled none other than “Eataly World,” which will open in Bologna, Italy in September, 2017. Most people are pretty familiar with the concept of Seaworld and Lego Land, but because Eataly World is the first of its kind, it boasts the question what exactly is a food theme park? Evidently, the answer to this question has stunned foodies and non-foodies alike worldwide.
To clarify the mind blowing concept, Eataly has declared that the theme park will contain a plethora of food exhibits throughout the 80,000 square meter piece of land. Tiziana Primori, vice-president of Eataly and CEO of Eataly World, has also specified that the “entertainment and edutainment park” will depict “all steps of the [Italian] food chain, from the animals to the raw materials and work shops and restaurants.”
And indeed, Primori’s promise will not fall short as the theme park is devoted to depicting every detail, from product to consumption, of creating iconic Italian delicacies. According to Grub Street, Eataly World will contain over 10,000 square meters solely dedicated to crops and livestock with a supposed “nine [different] kinds of cows,” among many other things imperative to making Italian cheeses, pastas, and other classic foods. There will also be “two and a half acres of orchards and farmland where people can see at least 30 kinds of produce being grown, including olives, eggplants, and hazelnuts.” Inside the vast array of 40 workshops that Eataly will offer, there will be a feature where visitors can see “something being born” before their very eyes. Depicting a literal “farm to fork” transformation, this workshop offers demos of, for example, wheat being milled and turned into pasta or a goat being milked and transformed into cheese.
On top of that, Eataly World will boast 100,000 square feet of markets and around 30 bars and restaurants “representing top Italian producers,” according to Eater. Additionally, Eataly World will contain several hands-on, learning opportunities. Inside the 43,500-square-foot space dedicated to culinary and agricultural teachings, there will 10 classrooms, 30 activities per day on the “discovery of food and the food chain,” and six multimedia areas, which will explain the “main products and findings in the agribusiness world.”
There will also be “two and a half acres of orchards and farmland where people can see at least 30 kinds of produce being grown, including olives, eggplants, and hazelnuts.” Inside the vast array of 40 workshops that Eataly will offer, there will be a feature where visitors can see “something being born” before their very eyes.
Depicting a literal “farm to fork” transformation, this workshop offers demos of, for example, wheat being milled and turned into pasta or a goat being milked and transformed into cheese.
Besides culinary amenities, Eataly World will also contain aspects of a typical amusement park: rides. However, Bloomberg regards these rides similar to “enhanced virtual reality experiences,” which contain names like “The Man and the Bottle” and “The Man and the Fire.” Because the theme park will become the size of a small village, Eataly plans to build a 200 room hotel complex, which will open in 2018, and to supply visitors with three wheel, Bianchi bikes to travel to and from the several facilities. The 20 acre complex will be powered by over 44,000 solar panels, “which sets the record for most on a single property in Europe,” according to Grub Street.
Unsurprisingly, the Eataly World brand team will spend $106 million dollars in perfecting the project, “part of which will be publicly owned [by] 2,000 businesses, big [and] small.” However, the investors involved expect to garner an advantageous return, according to the predicted 6 million visitors per year–more than Sea World Orlando received in 2015–that Eataly World expects to receive. I probably won’t be one of those lucky visitors, but I’ll still definitely be putting down a trip to Bologna, Italy to explore Eataly World on my Christmas list this year, and maybe the next 20 plus Christmas lists as well.
Because the theme park will become the size of a small village, Eataly plans to build a 200 room hotel complex, which will open in 2018, and to supply visitors with three wheel, Bianchi bikes to travel to and from the several facilities. The 20 acre complex will be powered by over 44,000 solar panels, “which sets the record for most on a single property in Europe,” according to Grub Street.
I probably won’t be one of those lucky visitors, but I’ll still definitely be putting down a trip to Bologna, Italy to explore Eataly World on my Christmas list this year, and maybe the next 20 plus Christmas lists as well.