If Italian Cuisine is now recognized as an added value of hospitality, social life, wellness and tourism in Kenya, it is not only due to the many restaurateurs and those who have created local professionals by exporting and teaching the art of pizza, pasta, ice cream and the unique way to transform unique and varied products into goodness.
The credit is also largely due to those who make these products available to chefs and restaurateurs and have made them available to private individuals.
The first compatriot to officially import every kind of food and wine was undoubtedly Roberto Miano, who, coinciding with the International Cuisine Week, celebrates thirty years since the foundation of his company, which imports Italian products.
"In 1990 I had already been living in Malindi for a few years and managed the only Italian supermarket on the coast. - recalls Miano - Those were the years of the tourist boom and month after month I was happily forced to expand my business. At that time finding Italian products was a mirage, more or less one was forced to carry them in a suitcase and the few international importers chose bad brands or labels with names that could be traced back to our country but actually came from the Middle East or India. So I thought it was time to give our fellow countrymen and women, who especially on the coast were increasing, to buy villas and build new reception facilities and at the same time promote the gastronomic culture of our home in the rest of the country".
Miano's intuition, with the understandable difficulties of a job that had to deal with Mombasa's commercial customs and rules in progress, turned out to be a happy one.
"In a short time I have changed the habits of many foreigners and the menus of many hotels on the coast - admits the Lombard businessman - combining pasta containers, extra-virgin olive oil, wines and other consumer goods, even fresh cold cuts and cheeses. In my supermarket for thirty years you can also enjoy a sandwich with mortadella or Parma ham as if you were in the Belpaese. I travel to Italy to personally choose the companies to work with, among those that guarantee me the best value for money. I have the exclusivity for Kenya of at least twenty important national brands". 
Because Roberto is not only a businessman in love with Kenya, but also a lover of food and traditions of his land who has chosen a profession that best represents him.
"For this reason I have always combined import with the management of Italian restaurants - Miano says - in Malindi I built and managed the restaurant "I Pescatori" which is now called Baby Marrow, then I decided to move to Mombasa, to be closer to the port and customs clearance, but at the same time to acquire the clientele of a large city not linked to the seasonality of tourism. And here too I opened restaurants until I found the best location in Nyali, in a pleasant space on the busy link road, a short walk from the supermarket and my warehouse.
My restaurants have always been marked not only by the quality of the products that I choose (but this is obvious), but also by the respect for the culinary tradition of our home, with the faithfulness of the recipes that have not been modified to meet local tastes but invite you to fully enjoy not only the goodness, but also the Italian culture. In fact, Roberto's dishes are appreciated by those who know and appreciate true Italian cuisine, including President Kenyatta who is always our welcome customer when he comes to Mombasa".
Today Roberto Miano with his Tropic Trade is the Italian importer of reference throughout the country, also acting for some time on the large square of Nairobi.
"Over time, other importers have joined us, honest and capable compatriots - explains Miano - also thanks to the battles that I have been following for years to facilitate the arrival of products from our country. My commitment, with a waste of time, money and energy, has earned me the resolution of a dispute with the Kenya Bureau of Standards which had set absurd parameters for Italian wines. Carrying out this job in Kenya is always very problematic, between constantly changing rules and pressures of all kinds. But we are moving forward with the conviction that by now this country cannot do without the pleasure of Italian food and wine on the table".