The Industry Reunites in Germany for Food Ingredients Europe
With over 1,300 food industry exhibitors attending, Food ingredients Europe & Natural ingredients 2013 set a successful stage for three busy days at the Frankfurt Festhalle – Messe in Germany.
With no fewer than 140 new exhibitors, compared to the previous show edition two years ago, the fair presented numerous business opportunities this November.
The event’s popularity is on the rise, as over 70% of this year’s exhibiting companies are expected to return for the next edition as well, according to Natasha Berrow, brand director for food ingredients at UBM, the organizer of Fi Europe. It attracted a global audience of over 26,000 decision makers from all aspects of the food industry, and an impressive 20% increase in the number of exhibitors in the Chinese pavilion.
Fi Europe accounted for three busy days indeed: over 90% of the visitors are likely to do new business as a result of their presence in Frankfurt, according to visitor surveys.
New features
The increase in first-time exhibitors was just one of the show highlights; visitors could customise their attendance choosing from 20 conference modules and three master classes, with access to research, case studies and expertise from international manufacturers and leading academics. The discovery tours were yet another new feature this year, allowing visitors to follow a trend specific tour with guided trail maps.
The New Product Zone showcased over 36 new products and was one of the event’s highlights as well, with recent innovative launches from exhibitors in the food and beverage industry.
The most innovative food ingredient
Fi also introduced new categories for their Excellence Awards this year, and showcased innovations from bakery, beverage, confectionery, dairy, and savoury/meat industries, as well as “Snacks/On-The-Go Innovation” and “Sustainability Initiative of the Year” categories.
The nomination shortlist for the year’s bakery innovation comprised of the following products:
Bakery Innovation of the Year
Nutrisum high-stearic, high –oleic sunflower oil, from Advanta
VitalGlucan H+, from AIT Ingredients
Microalgae high lipid algal flour, from Roquette
The finalists for the confectionery innovation category were:
Chocofill NH 110, from AarhusKarlshamn (AAK)
The Cocoart Collection, from Barry Callebaut
CristalGreen, from Loders Crocklaan
Roquette’s microalgae high lipid algal flour was this year’s grand winner – the product was awarded the title of The Most Innovative Food Ingredient, and the company received the Bakery Innovation of the Year award. “Roquette has demonstrated the vision to see the future, a passion to develop a new technology and the guts to invest in a new business area that meets and embraces the future trends of healthy, sustainable and tasty nutrition”, said Peter Wennström, chair of the judges.
The judging criteria reflected the organisers’ aim to make them as representative as possible for the commercial reality of today’s market.
Food ingredients was launched in Utrecht, The Netherlands, in 1986 and the events are now established worldwide, with over 500,000 people who have attended the shows over the years.