AMSTERDAM, December 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Creating a hub to innvote and taste the future
Food ingredients (Fi) Europe and Natural ingredients (Ni) once again proved itself as the world's leading exhibition for food and beverage ingredient sourcing and the crucial meeting point for the global food and beverage industry. As consumers become increasingly aware of what they eat and with increasing demands on manufacturers to deliver better quality, Fi Europe & Ni focused on how to innovate for the future consumer, through new ingredient applications, food technology, packaging and processing innovations.
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Fi Europe & Ni opened just 2 weeks after the Paris attacks and united over 19,700 food and beverage professionals from 119 different countries and 1,400 global ingredients suppliers including DSM, Cargill, Kemin, Arla Food Ingredients, Nexira and Roquette. Across 3 days, Fi Europe & Ni successfully and proudly, given the extreme circumstances, brought the crème de la crème of the industry a glimpse and a taste of the future.
Cargill's Niklas Andersson, Marketing Director, Cocoa & Chocolate, commented that Fi Europe is the place for the food industry, "It's the biggest show in the industry. It's a place where we meet our customers and suppliers and see what's going on in the industry. I always like walking around, looking at other industries and other categories to see what they're doing, what the trends are, what the new things happening are. I don't see any other place in Europe where we can actually see that. I think Fi Europe is the place for the food industry."
Fi Europe's Brand Director, Richard Joyce commented, "We were positively encouraged by the busy show floor and the high-quality visitors that attended. Above all, the overwhelming commentary from exhibitors was that the visitors they met with were of a very senior level, specifically there to do business. Over 76% of visitors had the power to authorise or influence purchasing decisions in their company. This was in line with previous editions and exceeded expectations for the majority of exhibitors."
What made the difference at this edition of Fi Europe & Ni was the level of new innovation showcased on the show floor. Over 200 new exhibiitors were confirmed for this edition, including pavilions such as Made by Nature, New Business, Organic Pavilion, Switzerland Global Enterprise and the newly launched ExpoFoodTec specialising in processing, packaging and technology. The ever popular New Product Zone sponsored by Innova Market Insights, displayed 30+ new products and highlighted recent launches from exhibitors at the forefront of innovation. Nurtrimarketing led the Innovation Tours and Leatherhead Food Research created the self-guided Discovery Tours, both allowing visitors to find new innovations and suppliers in dairy, bakery, new sources of proteins, flavoring & aroma soltuions and healthier alternatives for fat, sugar and salt. The innovation highlight was the Fi Innovations Awards which honoured the latest ingredient innovations across ten categories. The overall winner and winner of the 'Most Innovative Food Ingredient' award was Dutch company Scelta Mushrooms for their product Scelta Taste Accelerator. "We are very proud to have won the biggest award in a competition with such a strong field of competitors. Through the evaluation of a jury of experts, the Fi Innovation Awards provides us with an objective platform to disclose the potential of Scelta Taste Accelerator as a powerful sodium reduction tool and natural flavour enhancer to the wider public. Winning the award gives our new product a flying start in the market," commented Jeroen Dekkers of Scelta Mushrooms.
Martin Lindegaard, Regional Marketing Manager from Novozymes commented, "Our customers are here, the other industry players are here, so it's a good opportunity to see what everyone is doing and what's coming next."
The visitor numbers were 17% down on the 2013 edition, something which organisers UBM had expected given the recent attacks and high security measures in place in Paris and other European cities. Fi Europe's Brand Director, Richard Joyce commented, "We expected the Paris attacks to have an impact on overall attendee numbers. We were very very pleased with the final result and extremely happy we delivered the visitors to the show that were simply here to source ingredients, find the right suppliers and get on with business."
Hanne Dybvad Jensen, Business Development Manager of KMC also commented, "It is now our eighth time at the show and it is always really worthwhile. It is the most global industry event. We use it not only for sourcing valuable new contacts but also to interact with our existing clients and Fi Europe & Ni untied partners. The versatility of the show is what is all about."
The next edition of Fi Europe & Ni will take place in Frankfurt, Germany, 28-30 November 2017 and 80% of exhibitor space is already booked. Its sister event, Health ingredients Europe takes place in Frankfurt, Germany, 29 November-1 December 2016 - a leading health ingredients event which will attract the industry's leading buyers and suppliers from across Europe.
About Food ingredients Global - The trusted route to market since 1986
Food ingredients was launched in Utrecht, The Netherlands, in 1986. Its portfolio of live events, extensive data, digital solutions and high-level conferences are now established throughout the world and provide regional and global platforms for all stakeholders, in the food ingredients industry. Over 500,000 people have attended our shows over the years with billions of Euros worth of business created as a result. With over 25 years of excellence, our events, digital solutions and supporting products, deliver a proven route to market, with a truly global audience. For more information about the Food ingredients portfolio please visit: http://www.fi-europe.eu/PM. For more information about press and for press registration please visit: http://www.figlobal.com/fieurope/press/.
About UBM EMEA
UBM EMEA connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote their brands and expand their markets. Through premier brands such as Routes, CPhI, IFSEC, Ecobuild, Seatrade, and many others, UBM EMEA exhibitions, conferences, awards programs, publications, websites and training and certification programs are an integral part of the marketing plans of companies across seven industry sectors.
UBM EMEA is committed to the continual improvement of sustainability
To ensure long term profitability, UBM EMEA aims to be a leader in sustainable business, aligning all key business decisions with our sustainability strategy. UBM EMEA sees it as fundamental that we are conscious of the impact that our actions have on the environment and the communities in which we operate. UBM EMEA strives to manage its impact by ensuring that the principles of sustainability are at the core of all our activities. A corner stone to our journey towards sustainability is our certification to the ISO 20121 Sustainable Event Management System. UBM EMEA is one of the first major organisers to successfully implement and certify our sustainable event management system against the International Standard ISO 20121.
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