FDBusiness.com

Vitafoods Europe 2015 returned to Palexpo, Geneva, from the 5-7 May, welcoming 15,627 visitors, an increase of 12.5% on last year’s show, making the event the largest and busiest Vitafoods Europe to date. Visitors and exhibitors came together from across the globe to discover new ingredients and services, learn about innovative approaches to business and the latest research, and to discuss potential business opportunities.

The event saw a total of 820 global companies, offering ingredients and raw materials such as fish oil concentrates, botanical extracts, amino acids and glycosilated flavonoids to professionals from the nutraceutical, functional food and beverage and dietary supplement industries. Visitors were also able to take advantage of the event’s free educational programme, which provided unparalleled learning opportunities, which can be applied to the development of ingredients and products, marketing strategies and for the penetration of new markets.

Vitafoods Portfolio Director, Chris Lee, was delighted with this year’s event: “Vitafoods Europe continues to play an important role in the development of the nutraceutical industry, by providing both a platform for business and through the valuable educational content available to visitors through our visitor attractions and the Vitafoods Europe Conference.

“Vitafoods Europe 2015 has been a huge success, with more people than ever coming together to build new relationships and to do business. This year’s event had a real community feel about it further cementing Vitafoods Europe’s position as the meeting place for the global nutraceutical industry, with many businesses using the event to meet up with their clients and suppliers. There was a real buzz on the show floor, which we believe is as a result of the significant investment we have made to help visitors and exhibitors connect. The early feedback we’ve had from both visitors and exhibitors has been excellent, and we’re looking forward to unveiling a number of exciting developments that will further enhance Vitafoods Europe 2016.”

Commenting on the show’s global feel and the quality of visitors in attendance, exhibitor Andie Long, Marketing & Sales Executive for AstraReal AB said: “The Vitafoods slogan of being the key nutraceutical event really rings true for us. The quality of visitors to this show is excellent and it’s consistently busy across the three days. We’ve been coming to the show for many consecutive years and we come here to get new leads as well as catch up with our existing customers. We operate globally and the show is an opportunity to meet people from the across the world in one place.”

Stressing the importance of exhibiting at Vitafoods, Melissa Fernandes, Business Development Manager at Allma said: “The show was great, we’ve been very busy. The type of visitors that have come to our stand were the sort of companies we would look to target. Vitafoods Europe would have to be the main fair for our type of product.”

Continuing to push the envelope with innovative event features, Vitafoods Europe saw the launch of the Global Market Theatre, which saw almost 600 visitors attend 18 presentations which offered an overview of regional markets, regulatory frameworks and the latest innovations in R&D from around the world. It provided an in-depth overview of the key aspects for doing business in six selected regions: Asia, Southern Africa, Europe & Eastern Europe, Russia & CIS, South America and North America, offering a guide on how to grow and develop business across the globe. Speakers from leading research companies and consultancies included the likes of Euromonitor International, Mintel, Innova Market Insights and EAS Strategies, hosted sessions offering independent insight and expert assessments on key market trends.

The Vitafoods Live! Theatre, returned to the show following its successful launch last year, with senior industry figures discussing the future of nutraceuticals through a series of panel discussions. Attendees heard discussions on a variety of topics including the consumers of the future, meeting the requests of retailers, formulating for reduced salt, sugar and fat and brand development from speakers representing the likes of Tree of Life, Tate & Lyle, University College Dublin, Abunda and The Retail Institute.

Georgia Taylor, Marketing & Claims Advisor for Leatherhead Food Research was one of those presenting in the Vitafoods Live! Theatre: “The format of the discussion panel at the Vitafoods Live! Theatre is very engaging and the informal approach works really well. The show enables us to have lots of exposure to the right people and industries.”

New exhibitors to Vitafoods Europe were quick to praise the organisation of the show. Eric Graves, International Marketing Director, Nature’s Sunshine said: “We attended to find distributors as we’re expanding in the European market. We’ve had quality leads and have meetings set up for later. There’s been very good communication from the show organisers and it’s been easy to communicate to the team.”

The quality of business opportunities available at the show was echoed in the sentiments of exhibitors in Finished Products Europe as well. “The show has exceeded expectations. It’s our first time and there’s been great interest and demand for our format. I’ve visited previously and the opportunities here are significant as there’s a global audience,” said Corbin Wood, COO at Super Gummy.

Co-located with Vitafoods Europe, Finished Products Europe 2015 provided visitors with a chance to learn more about the latest innovative functional food and beverages, as well as discovering bespoke product solutions, from more than 211 global exhibitors. The New Products Zone showcased those products launched in the last twelve months, whilst the Tasting Bar provided visitors with an opportunity to sample an array of products including protein bars, multivitamins, cognitive health products and probiotic drinks. Visitors had the chance to vote for their favourite products crowning High Protein Chips by Laboratoire PYC, Best Tasting Functional Food and ProViva50 by Probi AB, Best Tasting Functional Beverage.

Another popular feature from last year’s show, The Finished Products Theatre provided valuable insight into the latest market developments, as well as future trends and cutting-edge product presentations, in the areas of ‘Sports Nutriton and Physical Performance’, ‘Weight Management’ and ‘Women’s Health’. Speakers included Finished Products Europe exhibitors including the likes of LGC Group/Informed-Sport, Natures Aid Ltd and Probi AB, with presentations offering a clear explanation of how their businesses have met challenges to develop products and services that meet consumer demand.

A first time visitor to Finished Products Europe, Karin Kiared of Safa, was pleased with the niche nature of Finished Products Europe: “I’m here to explore new products and find new opportunities. It’s my first time at the show, and I’m impressed; it’s very large and very specialised with lots of interesting exhibitors. It’s my first time attending a trade show that is this specialised,” he said.

Vitafoods Europe Conference

This year’s Vitafoods Europe Conference took on a new format, with three streams spanning the first two days of the show each with a distinct focus. The three streams, entitled ‘Your Business’, ‘Your Science’ and ‘Your Product’, featured a total of 65 presentations from 70 expert speakers covering topics such as heart health, consumer engagement, healthy ageing, regulation, weight management, and women’s health.

Speakers included the likes of Maryse Hervé, Secretary-General at the Federation of European Specialty Food Ingredients Industries, Karin Verzijden, Attorney at Law from Axon Lawyers, Peter Wennström from The HealthyMarketingTeam and Professor Robert Thomas, Senior Clinical Tutor, Cambridge University.

The opening keynote panel, entitled ‘Driving open innovation within functional food, beverages and dietary supplements’ saw Dr Astrid Stuckleberger, Institute of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine at University of Geneva, Julia Raquet, Vice President, Human Nutrition, Europe, BASF and Krijn Rietveld, Senior Vice President Partnering for Innovation, DSM, discuss open innovation, the prevention of illness through functional foods and the role of nutrition in healthy ageing.

The discussion, led by Simon Pettman, Director at EAS Strategies and Executive Director at International Alliance of Dietary/ Food Supplement Associations; looked at key issues such as the business risks of open innovation and how can they be mitigated, as well as how the European Commission can play a role in driving and encouraging increased innovation within the industry. The panel also explored the impact innovation and increased partnership working can have within specific health categories such as healthy ageing.

A speaker looking at the ‘Trends and opportunities in the growing market for free-from foods’, David Jago, Director of Innovation & Insight for Mintel, discussed his involvement in the Vitafoods Conference and the show as a whole: “Vitafoods is the show for this type of business, for the nutraceutical industry, and the conference is a must attend for anything health and nutrition focused. The show also gives us the opportunity to catch up with clients in one place.”

Malin Hansson, Co-founder, Business Developer at Algot was one of the delegates in attendance at the Vitafoods Europe Conference: “We’ve been to six of the conference presentations today, we really enjoyed the brand strategy presentation. There has been a very good mix of topics, and for us there are so many aspects to take into consideration. A lot is covered, and while the presentations are from major organisations it’s still applicable to our business. It’s great to hear feedback from established players, and it’s an efficient way of doing that.”

Vitafoods Europe and Finished Products Europe will return to Palexpo, Geneva from the 10-12 May 2016.