Posted on

Alimentaria offers more conferences, B2B meetings and launches

Alimentaria’s international buyers' programme aims to open up business opportunities on five continents, so the Hosted Buyers contingent includes guests from every corner of the world: Latin America, Asia, the United States and Canada, Europe and the Middle East.

Taking place April 25-28 in Barcelona, Alimentaria is the place for innovation, business collaboration, competitiveness and knowledge sharing in Europe’s food and drinks sector.

The International Food & Drinks Exhibition will be celebrating its 40th anniversary at Barcelona’s Fira Gran Via Exhibition Centre and its format has been updated to span a broader spectrum of the industry and reflect new market trends and consumer habits.

At its last edition, the event attracted more than 140,000 visitors from around the world and hosted 3,800 represented companies and more than 1,000 international companies.

In 2016, Alimentaria will be streamlined into 5 shows, encompassing the main food and drinks markets:

  • Intervin (wines and spirits),
  • Intercarn (meat and meat products),
  • Restaurama (restaurants, integrates Expobebidas & Congelexpo companies),
  • Interlact (dairy products) and
  • Multiple Foods (confectionery, preserves, oils and premium products).

Multiple Foods, the new show of food trends and special and functional projects, adds Alimentación Ecológica (organic food), Olivaria, Expoconser, Interpesca, the International Pavilions, Lands of Spain, Snacks, Biscuits & Confectionery, Mediterranean Foods, Healthy Foods and Fine Foods, along with the Premium zone and the Olive Oil Bar.

In 2016, Alimentaria’s activities will hinge around six core themes:

  • distribution and retail,
  • CSR,
  • internationalisation,
  • R&D&I and branding,
  • nutrition,
  • and marketing and communication.

Exporting for SMEs

As always, Alimentaria will facilitate contacts between exhibitors and key international buyers across the food and beverage chain, with the aim of encouraging business meetings and firming up foreign deals. At Alimentaria 2014, 59% of exhibitors were already exporting their products, while 73% of those who were not yet selling abroad said that they fully intended to do so within the next two or three years.

Alimentaria’s international buyers’ programme aims to open up business opportunities on five continents, so the Hosted Buyers contingent includes guests from every corner of the world: Latin America, Asia, the United States and Canada, Europe and the Middle East.

This year, the Alimentaria Hub also offers the Export Service Counter for exhibitors, preferably SMEs, who want to venture into foreign markets for the first time. Intended to help companies internationalise their business, this new programme involves experts in all the formalities necessary to take these first steps in reaching foreign markets, from insurance companies and consultancy firms to chambers of commerce and financial institutions.

The Alimentaria Hub

Part of the Alimentaria show, the Alimentaria Hub, boasts new product launches as well as conferences, presentations and consumer trend analysis. It also includes a centre for business meetings and export opportunities and networking sessions to foster entrepreneurship, according to organisers.

One of the big attractions at the Alimentaria Hub is the Food Factory, the meeting place for technology start-ups in the agrifood sector and Business Angels with the capacity to invest in projects with development potential.

Innoval will feature the latest trends and innovations in the sector, exhibiting more than 300 new food products. The Spanish Food and Drink Industry Federation (FIAB) is organising the VII Alimentaria Food Technology and Innovation Meeting, while consultancy firm Innova Market Insights will be leading the ‘Top Ten Trends’ session at which it will present a selection of the ten global trends that are currently setting the bar in the food industry.

Food Bloggers Conference

The 2016 show sees the first Food Bloggers Conference to encourage people to learn about and understand new communication channels. It will be a chance to share knowledge among bloggers and other social media professionals associated with food and gastronomy.

Presentations on sustainability, CSR & the Mediterranean Diet

In terms of presentations, the Alimentaria Hub will host the third Nestlé Forum on ‘Creating Shared Value’, this year dedicated to the industry’s contribution to a sustainable and socially responsible future, and the XI International Conference on the Mediterranean Diet.

source: http://www.alimentaria-bcn.com/en/home

Posted on

New project to cut food waste at Mercabarna

Food waste is in the firing line as Mercabarna commissions study on why it happens and how to reduce it within the precinct.

How to reduce food waste is the end goal of a study Mercabarna has commissioned from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the Plataforma Aprovechamos los Alimentos (Let’s Make Use of Food Platform, PAA).

In a press release, Barcelona’s wholesale food hub said the study, expected to be completed toward the end of the year, will establish the volume and causes of food waste produced within its precinct and suggest areas of work and specific actions to reduce it to a minimum.

“This project shows our desire to keep looking for solutions that help us in the fight against food waste. The actions resulting from it will be added to those that we have been carrying out for many years, such as working with the Food Bank,” said Mercabarna managing director Josep Tejedo.

Photo courtesy of http://www.mercabarna.es/sectors-activitat/fruites-i-hortalisses/en_index/

Posted on

Bta. 2015 welcoming more than 500 exhibitors to Barcelona from tomorrow

Bta logo

Tipped to be Europe’s largest food technology trade show this year, Bta. 2015 starts tomorrow in Barcelona and will offer the latest innovation and technology solutions for the food industry.

Running till April 24 at the Gran Via Fira de Barcelona Venue, the event – the International Food and Beverage Machinery, Technology and Ingredients exhibition – will coincide with Hispack, the International Packaging Exhibition and is organised in three trade shows: TecnocárnicaTecnoalimentaria and Ingretecno.

Bta. expects more than 35,000 professionals from the food industry to visit the triennial event, now in its 15th edition, and will welcome more than 500 exhibiting companies.

bta.jpg

Bta. 2015 is expanding the range of products presented, incorporating machinery and technology for the dairy industry, industrial refrigeration and cleaning, waste processing, logistics processes and environmental solutions for the food industry.

7208718488_2137bd6d37_q.jpg

Activities 

– Innovation Meeting Point

– Ingrenova

– Bta. Innova and Bta. Emprende Awards

– Business meetings and interviews with international buyers 

– Innovation Area (IRTA and Ainia)

– Seminars, Conferences and Presentations

– Networking Spaces

Website: www.bta-bcn.com