I have been lucky enough to get out and about recently, with trips to Paris and Denmark to visit the SIAL and FoodTech exhibitions.
SIAL was first up. Taking place 19-23 October in Paris, the exhibition was celebrating its 50th anniversary and offered a range of activities to explore the various trends and innovations in today’s global food trade industry. As well as 6,000 exhibitors from 100 different countries, the 150,000 visitors were treated to World Tours, Trend Tours and a Light and Sound show to mark the occasion. Of particular interest was the World Tour, which had been coordinated by SIAL and 28 media outlets from across the world to offer a window into the global food market. It looked at what is happening in the food trade in 28 countries in order to shed light on the major retail and consumption trends which are shaping different local markets. Pinpointed trends included:
- The intensifying price competition between brands, such as price comparison services. In England, Tesco, for example, promises its customers a refund of the price difference
- Smartshopping – the smartphone has become an indispensable item for consumers. It can search for the information (including offers), receive it, interact with the brand and even substitute the self-checkout terminals
- The globalisation of trade means retail is more global than ever with all of the major brands operating on several continents; Walmart, Tesco, Carrefour, Auchan and Casino are present in America, Europe and Asia.
Next on my agenda was FoodTech, which took place 28-30 October in Herning, Denmark. Featuring more than 250 exhibitors, the exhibition is Northern Europe’s largest trade fair for food technology. As well as the exhibition, FoodTech collaborated with a range of partners in order to host a number of events and activities during the show, including:
- Science Street – exhibitors came together to create an area for attendees to network and get up to date with the latest trends in innovation, internationalisation and design
- FoodTech Challenge – an international open innovation competition showing examples of concept and product development which applied a new business model developed by Aarhus University
- The International Food Contest dairy exhibition showcased a wealth of cheese, butter and consumption products from around the world
- FoodTech Career Day – a new initiative at the fair aimed at attracting the brightest minds to the food technology industry which allowed companies to learn more about the employees of tomorrow
- Enterprise Europe Network organised a matchmaking event to give companies the chance to meet other companies and discuss potential cooperation opportunities.
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