Global food fair wants more Thai SMEs on its menu
The world's largest food and beverage fair will focus on sustainability during the four days it will be held in the German city of Cologne in October, executives from the exhibition centre where it will be located told reporters in Bangkok on Wednesday.
The event will draw people from the entire food and beverage supply chain globally to find ways to ensure a sustainable future for the food and beverage industry, said Gerald Bose, CEO of trade and exhibition centre Koelnmesse GmbH.
The event will be an innovative platform to analyse the role food and beverages can play in global sustainability, he said.
"We see ourselves as global bridge builders, bringing people together to create peaceful trade, collaboration, and networking," Bose said.
Bastian Mingers, vice-president of trade fair management at Koelnmesse GmbH, said the event will be the largest exhibition platform for the food and beverage industry.
It will have 7,972 exhibitors and about 170,000 visitors from 201 countries are expected to attend it.
Mingers invited all Thai and other Southeast Asian entrepreneurs, particularly SMEs and startups, to attend the event.
Thailand is currently hosting Thaifex Anuga Asia 2023, Asia's largest food and beverage trade show.
Mingers said the focus will include achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs), transparency and traceability of supply chains and products, climate-friendly production, reducing food waste, and developing a circular food system.
Technological progress is also important because it is frequently a driver of new ideas and products, he added.
Jan Philipp Hartmann, director of Anuga, said that the theme of the October 7-11 fair is “Taste the Futures” and that he expects many new international partnerships to be formed.
Myrthe de Beukelaar, a market analyst at Innova Market Insights and one of Anuga's partners, said ecofriendly productivity, reducing waste, and the use of bio-degradable materials are some of the major challenges the food and beverage industry faces.
The fair will feature innovative solutions of these challenges, she said.
Arada Fuangtong, deputy director-general of Thailand's Department of International Trade Promotion, said the department would work with the Thai Chamber of Commerce to help Thai SMEs and startups attend the event, noting that Germany is an important trade partner for Thailand.
Attending Anuga will provide Thai companies with an opportunity to learn flexible and cost-effective solutions for the country's long-term sustainability, she said.
