Food ingredients Europe proved once again it's the world's leading food industry event. In Frankfurt from the 19-21 November the doors welcomed close to 25,000 attendees. And an outstanding 80% of visitors confirmed that they control the purse strings of some the world's leading food and beverage manufacturers.
And here's why: With today's consumers aware more than ever before of what they eat and increasing demands on costs - Fi Europe offered a platform to taste the future with unique and never to be seen insight into new processes and technologies, industry trends, consumer needs, cost reduction, food safety, traceability and sustainability.
Matthias Baur, Portfolio Director, Food ingredients Global commented, "The feedback from the exhibitors and visitors this year has been outstanding. The Fi Portfolio was able to raise the profile of the show and grow the show exponentially. Not only was it our largest Food ingredients ever, but it was also our most innovative food ingredients to date. The sheer number of people at the fair, plus the energy in the halls, was an affirmation of the success of the show."
Across 3 days Fi Europe provided multiple platforms to experience taste and learn what the future of the food and beverage industry will bring. An outstanding example of such innovation was the Fi Europe Excellence Awards. On the first evening, Matthias Baur, Portfolio Director, Food ingredients Global announced the winners of each category including: Confectionery Innovation of the Year - IOI-Loders Croklaan - CristalGreen(R); Bakery Innovation of the Year - ROQUETTE Microalgae High Lipid Algal Flour; Beverage Innovation of the Year - Tate & Lyle PROMITOR(R) Soluble Gluco Fibre; Dairy Innovation of the Year - Chr. Hansen SaltLite; Savoury/Meat Innovation of the Year - DSM Food Specialities MaxiPro HSP; Snacks/On-The-Go Innovation of the Year - Novozymes A/S Novozymes Acrylaway(R) HighT; Sustainability Initiative of the Year - Symrise AG simply vanilla(R) Symrise Sustainable Vanilla. The overall winner of Innovation of the Year Award also went to Roquette.
Emily Lauwaert,Marketing Communication Manager, Roquette has spoken of their enthusiasm of the show, "Fi Europe is an unmissable event in the food industry, so to be honoured in such a way is truly significant to Roquette. We have such an innovative product and are very happy that the industry, the judges and FiE recognise and support such innovations."
Fi Europe brought the industry alive across the full 3 days, throughout the show and through various platforms. Never before did exhibitors and visitors alike have a chance to learn, taste, smell the future of success through innovation tours and pods, digital self-guided tours, multimedia social engagement or Michelin star tastings. Not a seat could be found at the official Fi Europe Conference, seminar sessions sponsored by Mintel or Industry Insight Theatre. The energy level around these new features plus the lack of available spaces, signified the success and brought visitors and exhibitors together with cutting-edge expertise. The New Product Zone, sponsored by Innova Market Insights displayed 36+ new products, highlighting recent launches from exhibitors at the forefront of innovation in the food and beverage industry and brought in a mass of traffic and excitement to FiE. Innova Market Insights also presented "Ingredients In Action" - an ingredients application tasting bar whereby visitors can use all 5 senses to explore how the latest ingredients are being applied to finished food products and learn about trends driving new product development today. Some of the innovative products included a Pepsi flavoured corn snack and Coca Cola with Stevia.
Sarah Dowding, Regulatory Affairs Specialist, Nestle UK remarked, "The FiE exhibition showcases an amazing cross-section of current and emerging trends in the food ingredient industry and the conference brings people together to discuss these trends in more depth...."
Rene Berendse, Marketing Manager, Cargill Food Ingredients & Systems commented "Fi Europe has historically been the most prominent tradeshow we attend. By our continued participation we underline Cargill's commitment to help those we work with be more successful. It provides us a highly engaging platform to meet and discuss with our industry's decision makers, connecting Cargill experts with tradeshow visitors to jointly discover new opportunities and help those around us thrive."
Fi Europe is part of a global portfolio, which delivers leading and innovative platforms, information and future insights to the entire food industry across the globe. It takes the entire industry to the world's largest food markets and establishes the industry in new markets.
Food ingredients Europe's sister event, Health ingredients Europe, is taking place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on 2-4 December 2014. With over 82% of the floor space already booked for Hi Europe, strongly indicate that it will once again secure its position as a leading Health ingredients event, attracting the industry's leading buyers and suppliers from across Europe.
