This year’s will be the biggest Food Ingredients Europe and Natural Ingredients (Fi Europe and Ni) show to date. With a record number of exhibitors, a four-day conference programme focused on thought leadership and new sections and initiatives, organiser UBM EMEA expects the event to attract more senior professionals with considerable purchasing power than ever before.
Four halls spanning 65,000m2 of exhibition space will give more than 1,500 suppliers a stage upon which to display every conceivable food and beverage ingredient from around the world, including a vast range of functional and organic raw ingredients. Traditionally, suppliers have used the global industry’s leading event to introduce their innovations.
Exhibitors and visitors will also benefit from the new Content Hub in the Expo FoodTec pavilion, uniquely focused on ingredient processing and packaging. This is where Speaker sessions, presentations, and videos from leading experts and associations will offer priceless insight into new developments in processing and ingredients packaging.
Four of the best
Across the event, visitors will be able to explore state-of-the-art innovations as well as current food and beverage trends. The Industry Insights Theatre will focus on current major consumer developments influencing the global market. Supplier Solutions Sessions will act as a showcase for the latest ingredients, while the Start-up Innovation Challenge will create a platform for innovations from startup companies.
The New Product Zone, organised in cooperation with Innova Market Insights, returns to Fi Europe. It will include product innovations from leading industry players and provides the perfect opportunity to give new ingredients the introduction they deserve to the market. A popular area for visitors and the press, this feature has become a trendsetting spot for the nutrition industry.
The Fi Innovation Awards will also introduce a number of new categories celebrating innovation.
“Visitors to this event expect excellence and innovation,” says brand director Richard Joyce. To make sure they do not miss the most exciting news this year, we have organised special tours with industry experts from Nutrimarketing, as well as self-guided tours.”
Conferences and panels
Fi Europe conferences offer an opportunity to find out what industry experts are thinking, working on and interested in. For 2017, UBM EMEA has announced a programme covering four days of knowledge sharing and networking opportunities. One day before the show, the Fi Future of Nutrition Summit will bring together independent food pioneers for a conference that will cover the issues shaping the food and beverage landscape.
There will be a mix of keynote presentations, panel discussions and masterclasses on such topics as clean label and natural ingredients; food safety and regulatory compliance; protein; health and wellness; category innovation; reduction and reformulation; and sustainability. On 29 November, the Women’s Networking Breakfast will bring together inspirational women from all areas of the food industry and beyond to share their insight, knowledge and experience on topics including innovation, entrepreneurship and women’s excellence in the food and beverage industry.
A bit of theatre
Theatre sessions will provide industry insights across the food and ingredients sector.
In the Industry Insights Theatre, attendees will be able to get to grips with some of the wider market trends affecting the sector, not just in Europe, but also across the globe. In the Supplier Solutions Theatre, visitors can enjoy 25- minute seminar sessions providing them with the opportunity to learn about latest product applications, developments and news.
Visitors are also able to sign-up to one or more of five separate hour-long tours to learn more about the latest products and innovations. An expert guide will lead visitors around the most exciting exhibitors at the show, offering the chance to hear from experts about the products, and address questions directly to the companies themselves.
Live presentations
For the first time, the Expo FoodTec Content Hub will be in the heart of the pavilion, offering live presentations, and videos on food-processing technology, food fraud, supply chain management and product line safety by exhibitors, experts, start-ups and industry associations.
The Start-up Innovation Challenge presents the opportunity to pitch ideas to Fi Europe’s thousands of exhibitors and visitors. The Fi Europe Innovation Awards, meanwhile, will also be held during the event. These honour industry figures who have demonstrated and stimulated innovation, as well as made an overall contribution to the industry. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 28 November that will also include live music and entertainment, as well as the chance to network with food and beverage experts.
Among the exhibitors will be food and flavour manufacturers such as ADM, BENEO, Brenntag, Cargill, DSM, FrieslandCampina, Gelita, Kerry, Naturex and Roquette. Some companies, like Symrise, will be participating in a range of talks and presentations at the event, such as a masterclass on sustainability involving citrus and a case study on sustainability using red beetroot.
There will also appearances from leading European food and beverage manufacturers, such as chocolate and cocoa company Barry Callebaut and milk processing giant Lactalis. Visitors can also look forward to exploring niche suppliers with an immense number of ingredients.
