2011 Major gastronomy trade events: SIAL, ANUGA, ISM, BioFach...

(Koelnmesse ISM Cologne)

The food industry in 2011 will continue to be driven by health and wellness and organic ingredients, which have both been ongoing global trends. Other key recurring themes include Halal (as well as Kosher and vegetarian), luxury and gourmet, and nutraceutical products. Regional importance remains in developing markets, namely Asia.

41st Annual International Sweets and Biscuits Fair (ISM) 2011: The Future of Sweets
January 30 - February 2
Cologne Exhibition Center, Cologne, Germany

ISM is the largest global sweets and biscuits fair. This year's event focuses on new flavor technologies and how to most effectively use flavors as ingredients with the ProSweets Cologne Conference, as well as an event showcasing the confectionery designs of international students. The 2010 event attracted 1,503 exhibitors and 32,000 visitors in an exhibition space of 110,000 square meters. 
http://www.ism-cologne.com

21st BioFach & Vivaness 2011
February 16-19
Exhibition Centre, Nuremberg, Germany

BioFach is the oldest and largest trade fair dedicated to organic products, and will this year extend from food products into holistic health and wellness through its partnership with the Vivaness event. Key special themes include Organic Wine and Organic Olive Oil. Larger in scope and size than the other comparable European organic and natural ingredients trade fair - the Food Ingredients Europe and Natural Ingredients Expo, which is being held at the end of November in France. Last year's BioFach event attracted 2,557 exhibitors and nearly 44,000 visitors in an exhibition space of nearly more than 89,000 m2. The event has a global presence with events in Shanghai, Sao Paolo, Tokyo, Mumbai and Baltimore.
http://www.biofach.de/en/

SAPORE Tasting Experience 2011
February 19-22
Rimini Fiera, Italy

The event's motto is "Tastes, Rites, and Trends: Eating Out Around the Clock," and it positions itself as the first look for food trends for the upcoming year. The preview covers the "HoReCa" (hotel, restaurants, cafes) service segment (worth more than 70 billion Euros). More than 76,000 visitors were welcomed at the 2010 event in an expo space of 85,000 m2 and 1,000 exhibitors. More than 4,000 business meetings were conducted. The event focuses specifically on HoReCa and the service aspect of food and cooking, unlike SIAL and ANUGA, which are still larger in scope and attendance. 
http://en.saporerimini.it/

16th Annual Gulfood 2011
February 27 - March 2
Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Gulfood is the Middle East's largest food, drink, foodservice and hospitality exhibition. Live events include a live baking theatre, global chef competition and award ceremonies, while conference topics will cover packaging trends, consumer trends and Halal. Last year's event was the largest ever, organized on a space of more than 1 million m2 in which 3,500 exhibitors showcased products and services to more than 55,300 visitors. 
http://www.gulfood.com/

1st Alimentaria & Horexpo
March 27-30
Feira Internacional de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

Alimentaria is a biennial food and beverage exhibition established in 1974 in Spain. The event's 18th edition was held in Barcelona in 2010 and attracted more than 140,000 visitors in an expo space of 95,000 m2. This year's event in Lisboa is the inaugural event for Portugal, and will be held in tandem with Horexpo (food machinery) and Tecnoalimentaria (food technology). Activities include a culinary demonstration and presentation area, and Innoval - a space for new and innovative products, which includes the Intelligent Shop, showcasing the latest equipment for design and consumption. It is expected to attract 30,000 visitors and 800 companies exhibiting in 45,000 m2 of exhibition space. The 10th edition of Alimentaria Mexico will be held in Mexico City from May 31-June 3 2011 and will be smaller in size and scope than both the Lisbon and Barcelona events.
http://www.alimentaria.com/en

19th Annual Hotelex 2011
March 29 - April 1
Shanghai New International Expo Center, Shanghai, China

Together with other three related shows "Expo Build China 2011", "China Clean Expo 2011" and "Expo Light 2011" four expos under one roof will offer total solutions provided for the hospitality industry. The fairground be organized on an expo space of 160,000 m2, and will attract an estimated 2,200 suppliers and 100, 000 Visitors. Relevant featured shows include Food and Beverage, Bakery and Coffee and Tea China 2011. The 2010 event saw 2,200 exhibitors showcasing in 160,000 sq m of space to 100,000 visitors. 
http://www.hotelex.cn

9th Annual World Food Technology and Innovation Forum 2011
March 1-2
Sheraton Brussels Airport Hotels, Brussels, Belgium

An industry forum dedicated to research and innovation. This year the focus is on product innovation in light of new consumer buying behavior in the current economic landscape. Key themes include consumer communication (focusing on digital power), brand protection and health and wellness. Focuses on R & D and pre-production aspect of the food industry.
http://www.foodinnovate.com/

5th Annual Food, Agri & Livestock Asia 2011
April 26-28
Karachi Expo Centre, Karachi, Pakistan

A major regional event for the agriculture, meat, milk, drink and seafood industries. This year the forum will feature development forecasts for regional markets of food products, major trends in trade and food policy, trends and development prospects of demand for food and agricultural products. Focus areas will include Halal food and agricultural productivity. Last year's event attracted 42,820 visitors from 16 countries. Not yet comparable to Gulfood in size or stature, but differentiates itself by targeting raw food materials rather than Gulfood, which emphasizes on gourmet, gastronomy and technology. 
http://www.agroasia.net/

8th Annual International Halal Showcase (MIHAS 2011)
April 6-9
MATRADE Exhibition & Convention Centre (MECC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

MIHAS is considered a significant platform to access the global Muslim community as well as ASEAN markets. Halal food is a key trend in the ASEAN countries and beyond and is a major growth driver in Europe. The event is hosted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and organized by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corp. (MATRADE). 527 exhibitors participated in the 2010 event, which attracted more than 35,000 visitors from 59 countries. The 6th annual World Halal Forum will be held on April 4-5, also in Kuala Lumpur. Comparable in size to Thaifex, but positioned more as an entry point for specialty markets.
http://www.halal.com.my/, http://www.worldhalalforum.org/main.html

45th Annual Vinitaly
April 8-12
Veronafiere Fairground, Verona, Italy

Vinitaly is the largest five-day event devoted to international wines and spirits, winemaking and wine business. Each day offers a series of technical tastings, food & wine pairings, haute cuisine and presented by 4,200 exhibitors ranging from Champagne to Grappa. The annual event attracts more than 150,000 participants including producers, importers, distributors, caterers, technicians, journalists and opinion leaders. This event has enjoyed a longer run and more success than the French event, VinExpo, which is in its 10th edition, and catching up in size and scope.
http://www.vinitaly.com/

23rd Annual Specialty Coffee Exposition, USA
April 28 - May 1
Houston, TX, USA

Organized by the Specialty Coffee Association of America, the world's coffee authority and largest coffee trade association, with nearly 3,000 member companies from more than 40 countries. The event brings together the entire industry - from producers to baristas and enthusiasts. Each year, the event hosts two major industry competitions (which have been emulated at similar conferences around the world) - the United States Barista Championship and the Roasters Guild Coffees of the Year. This year finalists from the barista competition will go on to the World Barista Championships in Bogota on June 2-5 as part of the 4th Annual Expoespeciales trade show.
http://scae.com/23rd-annual-scaa-exposition-the-event.html, http://worldbaristachampionship.com/about-the-wbc/history/

8th Annual Thaifex - World of Food Asia 2011
May 25-29
IMPACT Challenger, Bangkok, Thailand

Thaifex is a leading trade platform for the Southeast Asian food and beverage industry and is based on the ANUGA event in Germany. The top three issues to be covered at this year's event include Health & Wellness, Halal, and food technology.  Last year's event had 13 national pavilions and was organized in a space of 44,475 m 2 where 992 companies exhibited their products to 105,959 visitors (21,401 trade and 84,558 public). This is an important regional fair - larger than SIAL China in a regional context, but maybe smaller in terms of international significance. The top 10 visiting nationalities of the 2010 event were Malay, Japanese, Singaporean, American, Chinese, Indian, Australian, Hong Kongese, South Korean and Filipino.
http://www.koelnmesse.com.sg/sites/worldoffoodasia/

12th Annual SIAL China
May 18-20
Shanghai New Int'l Expo Centre, Shanghai, PRC

SIAL China is part of the international SIAL Group, which was created in 1964 in Paris, and puts on international tradeshows annually, is hosted in rotating locations each year. In 2010 the Global, Middle East and South American events took place in Paris, Abu Dhabi and Buenos Aires. In 2011, SIAL China and Canada will be hosted in Shanghai and Toronto. The first SIAL took place in 1964 years ago and the 2010 SIAL event in Paris attracted more than 150,000 visitors. SIAL Canada will happen on May 11-13 at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto. SIAL China and Canada are still smaller in scale and scope compared to the parent event, which has been going on for more than 40 years.
http://www.sialcanada.com, http://www.sialchina.com

Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo
June 11-14
New Orleans Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Organized by the Institute of Food Technologists, this annual meeting of thousands of the world's top food science and technology professionals, representing the most prominent organizations in the food sector, discusses recent products, ingredients, and technology developments, and their potential impact on the industry. Represented are industry professionals, academia, and government officials. This year's program is divided into four core areas - food chemistry, food microbiology, food engineering and sensory science, and focus areas include sustainability, product development and ingredient innovations, and health and nutrition.
http://www.am-fe.ift.org/cms/

10th VinExpo 2011
June 19-23
Bordeaux-Lac Exhibition Centre, Bordeaux, France

Vinexpo is an event occurring every other (odd-number) year in Bordeaux, showcasing wines from all over the world to buyers and other industry professionals. Before each exhibition, studies, symposia and conferences on key issues concerning trade are carried out - in 2009 and 2010 the focus area was wine and women and wine and women in Asia. Vinexpo AsiaPacific launched in 1998, and has enjoyed monumental success.  Vinexpo Bordeaux 2009 attracted 2,400 exhibitors from 48 countries and more than 46,600 visitors and 1,367 journalists. Can VinExpo 2011 attract as many visitors as VinItaly 2010? 
http://www.vinexpo.com/en/visiting/

9th Annual HOSFAIR Guangzhou 2011
June 30 - July 2
China Import and Export Fair Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou, China

Held June 30 - July 2 every year, this is one of the most important hospitality exhibitions in Asia, with dedicated sections for Wine, Coffee and food. Exhibition area of 50,000 m2, more than 2,000 booths, 1,000 exhibiting companies and 50,000 professional visitors from home and abroad. Comparable in size and scope to the annual HOFEX exhibit in nearby Hong Kong, but will be more important as China continues to be a more attractive place for new investment than saturated Hong Kong. 
http://www.hosfair.com/guangzhou/

20th Annual World Food Moscow 2011
September 13-16
Moscow Expocentre, Moscow, Russia

World Food Moscow attracts wholesalers, distributors, retailers and restaurateurs.  The exhibition is divided into nine specialized sectors. The 2010 event attracted 1,266 exhibitors from 58 countries to showcase products in over 54,000 m2 of space. More than 52,000 people attended. This event is geared towards Eastern Europe and Russia, whereas SIAL and ANUGA position themselves as international events. 
http://www.world-food.ru

31st ANUGA 2011
October 8-12
Koelmesse GmbH, Cologne, Germany

German trade fair hosting ten specialized trade shows under one roof including meat, frozen food, dairy, food service, bakery, organic, hot beverages and more as well as nine trend topics. This year's nine trends include gourmet and regional specialties, halal, Kosher and organic products. Gross exhibition space for the 2009 event was 287,000 sq meters, accommodating more than 6,000 exhibitors and more than 149,000 visitors. This event is the German equivalent of SIAL Paris in size, but the two trade shows are held on alternate years. ANUGA is also geared more toward buyers, while SIAL's visitors were included buyers, as well as representatives from other areas of the food industry, including trade and export. 
http://www.anuga.com

Taiwan 2011: International Tea, Coffee & Wine Expo, International Food & Equipment Show
November
Taipei World Trade Center, Taiwan

More than 150,000 trade visitors from China, Japan, Korea, Central America and Southeast Asia looking to enter the Chinese and Asian market head to Taipei for this series of food and drink shows. In addition to coffee, wine and tea, a host of food products will be introduced ranging from canned goods to organic foods. The Taiwanese representative who will go on to compete in the World Barista Championship will also be selected here. Visitors are required to fill out an online form to get access to a free badge.
http://www.chanchao.com.tw/nov/

4th Annual Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair, Hong Kong
November 3-5
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong SAR

Organized by the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council, this event is a platform for buyers, producers, and other wine industry professionals from all over the world. As Hong Kong is considered the entry point into Chinese and Asian markets, this fair is strategically and geographically significant for all those interested in cementing their position in Asia. Major exhibition areas at the 2010 event included 'Wine Services' (wine tourism, wine education and trade associations) and 'Friends of Wine' (complementary products, confectionary, snacks). The 2010 event attracted 680 exhibitors and 14,122 buyers in a gross exhibition space of 16,132 square meters.
http://www.hktdc.com/fair/hkwinefair-en/s/2715-General_Information/HKTDC-Hong-Kong-International-Wine-and-Spirits-Fair/Fair-Details.html