With the anniversary edition 2018, Alimentec has convincingly set new standards as the leading platform of the nutrition and HoReCa industry in the Andes region, the Caribbean and Central America. 449 companies from 30 countries presented their products and services revolving around the themes of food and food service to 28,458 trade visitors in Bogota from 5 to 8 June 2018. The trade visitors profited from unique access to solutions, market innovations and trends of their industry. "Due to the thoroughly successful anniversary edition, Alimentec impressively underlined its relevance as an international industry meeting point. In addition to this, the growing internationality of Alimentec confirms the importance of Colombia as an important platform for accessing new business potential.
Excellent stand construction and professional organisation
Also a source of enthusiasm was the appearance of the event, which achieved a new international level with this year's anniversary edition. The high quality stand designs convinced the national and international trade public to a great extent. International exhibitors who had participated at Alimentec for the first time were impressed by the high-quality of the trade fair and the professional organisation. Even exhibitors of many years were enthusiastic about the organisational and international development of the event, which was contributed to by the alliance of the organisers. "It’s been a very good event. We met both existing and new clients. My impression is that the overall visitor quality is continuously improving with a more focused visitor profile, more in line with the real needs of the industry," commented Andrés Cardona, Head Chef Colombia of Unilever Food Solutions Colombia. In addition to this, the exhibitors emphasised that their commitment to exhibition participation paid off many times. "It’s our first time in the show and we are absolutely satisfied. For the next edition we have to hire more staff as we were constantly in talks. We are happy about the demand of the Colombian customers for our products and will return in 2020," stressed Jonatan Morgenroth, Director for Latin America of TouchBistro. This investment on the part of the exhibitors bears witness to the importance of Alimentec for the entire industry. This offering is thus unique in the region of Central America. "The service on-site was excellent. We highly praise the service team. Our expectations in the trade audience were also exceeded. Buyers from import companies, distributors, supermarket chains from Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Panama and from the Dominican Republic visited our stand. We received many compliments for the product presentation and selection of products," is how Malies Voss from Eichbaum Brauerei summed the event up.
International exhibitor growth
In addition to this, the anniversary edition attracted more international exhibitors than ever before: in comparison with the previous event in 2016, the number of international exhibitors increased by 53 percent. Represented were companies from all sectors of the nutrition and HoReCa industries from 30 countries. In addition to many national companies like Colombina, Juan Valdez, Javar and Casa Luker, international major industry players like Unilever, Rational, Winterhalter, Scandic, Mondial Foods, Emco, Instanta, Lamex, Budweiser and many others exhibited here. Exhibitors from Singapore, China, Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan participated in the event for the first time. Alongside the international pavilions from Spain, Brazil, Turkey, the USA and Canada, Argentina, Peru, South Korea, Ecuador, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Indonesia and Germany, new countries like Denmark, Singapore, China and Cuba have also participated. The event, which takes place every two years, thus convinced with a total of 17 country pavilions. The entire international exhibition space demonstrated extraordinary growth of 49 percent. Many exhibitors of the last event expanded their space massively. One example of this is the ICEX pavilion from Spain, with a quadrupling of the booked space.
Future-oriented supporting programme
The anniversary edition also presented a future-oriented supporting programme focusing on innovations and networking for the first time. Four prestigious partners, the Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá, the Argentine Coordinadora de las Industrias de Productos Alimenticios (COPAL), the Instituto Argentino del Envase (IAE) and the Asociación Colombiana de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos (ACTA), presented an extensive programme revolving around innovation and industry themes in the segments of nutrition and food service. The focus of attention was on, among other aspects, the trend theme of sustainable nutrition, which included lectures on the global value creation chain for a sustainable future and international trade. The event thus represented an optimal platform for trend themes and impulses, and rounded off the event with targeted know-how and knowledge transfer.
"Bakery, Pastry & Chocolate" segment in its own hall
In addition to this, the focus of the trade fair offering on twelve segments specific to the industry directly reflected its orientation to industry requirements. Due to increased interest from buyers and producers in the industry, the "Bakery, Pastry & Chocolate" segment was presented in its own hall for the first time. In this way the clear segment strategy was continued following the example of the world's leading trade fair Anuga.
Increasing market attractiveness of Colombia
Thanks to its ideal geographical position, Bogota is an optimal hub from which to access the regional target markets in Central America and the Andes region. This location is growing in importance due to the increasing market attractiveness of Colombia as a whole. The resulting imports offer excellent market chances. In addition to this, the Colombian market is striving for international growth and receives a great deal of support from the government. Alimentec promotes this growth to a great degree in that it provides the regional market with access to the international segments.
11th Alimentec in June 2020
The next Alimentec takes place from 9-12 June 2020 in Bogota.