All the fun of the fair

Said by the organisers to be “one of Europe’s leading health, natural and nutrition shows”, Health Ingredients Europe & Natural Ingredients 2018 (Hi Europe & Ni), will be held at Messe Frankfurt on 27–29 November. Perhaps guests have found themselves perusing the floor with this edition of Ingredients Insight in hand. Well, do not miss the opportunities the event has to offer and make the most of it by seeking out some of the key attractions. As a biannual gathering, the show is celebrating its tenth edition, continuing to highlight ingredients and solutions for food and drink formulation, reformulation, dietary supplements, nutraceuticals, organics, packaging and processing, and a host of other exciting industry topics, for a fully integrated view of the sector.

In particular, the joint events will shine a spotlight on processing and packaging technology. The organisers say numerous exhibitors will demonstrate the industry’s innovative power in the new Expo FoodTec pavilion.

Additionally, with food safety being a key topic, expert presentations will showcase innovations in processing technologies, hygiene, certification and supply chain traceability. The exhibitors, including Atlantia Food Clinical Trials, Innov’ia Manufacturing Services, Glatt Engineering and NSF Health Sciences, will cover a range of food processing and packaging issues, such as plant development, contract manufacturing or regulatory affairs, as well as a broad array of new products and services.

A high concentration of knowledge

Expo FoodTec will be “a huge draw for ingredient producers, process engineers, and research and development managers, as well as decision-makers with quality management and safety responsibilities”, as the organiser says. “With causes ranging from contamination in the process chain to tainted raw materials, the number of food and beverage recalls in Europe has quadrupled since 2008,” the organisers state. “Producers therefore need to react quickly, and be able to reconstruct and assess the entire production process. This also calls for the highest standards of quality management, safety and supply chain traceability.”

With this in mind, industry experts will detail concrete solutions, designed to meet the stringent requirements of producers and suppliers. Rob Kooijmans, founder of foodrecall.nl, will discuss how companies can prevent contamination through optimised quality controls, and how it’s possible to detect and resolve issues of this kind.

For the first time, IUFoST, the World Food Science and Technology Congress, is organising a conference on process technology and its contribution to a new generation of healthy food in Frankfurt. Dr Volker Heinz, managing director of the German Institute of Food Technology, will discuss ‘Process Development and New Raw Materials: Drivers of Sustainable Innovations in Food Production’. Additionally, Dr Nicolas Meneses, food and feed safety expert at the Bühler Group, will share his thoughts on decontamination technologies in ‘Food Safety: Decontamination of Dry Food Ingredients by Low Energy Beam’.

An offering one cannot refuse

In addition to the specialised areas, country pavilions and a new product zone, there is a whole host of other offerings attendees must be sure to take in. There will be a number of innovation tours, including one hosted by ProVeg that is pencilled to detail all of the latest plant-based innovations and products. NutriMarketing will host a programme of tours aimed at highlighting how suppliers are responding to key market trends.

Live and learn

Under its ‘Learn’ banner, the event includes a full conference programme. This will allow the coming together of leading industry experts for those in attendence to meet, learn from and network with. The Industry Insights Theatre boasts free-to-attend presentations from leading industry experts so guests can get to grips with some of the key trends. Finally, supplier solution sessions aimed at helping visitors discover new ingredients and technology solutions from leading suppliers are available.

The Supplement Spotlight, in association with EHPM, will bring together presentations, case studies and discussions addressing the latest trends and challenges in supplements and botanicals. Plant-Based Experiences will allow guests to get hands-on, with cooking shows, tastings, panel discussions, snap talks, guided tours and start-ups featuring plant-based products available. Visitors can inform themselves about current trends and truly experience the growing variety of plant-based products.

Keep it clean

Free panel discussions will focus on clean meat, sports and vegan nutrition. Moderated by plant-based nutritional expert Niko Rittenau, one panel discussion will concern whether clean meat is a greener, cleaner and healthier alternative to the $844- billion conventional meat industry? Dr Arianna Ferrari of Heidelberg University, David Pedersen, campaign manager at ProVeg International, and Frank Cordesmeyer, director of communications in Europe for CAS, will share their thoughts on this piping hot topic. The cooking shows will be hosted by a raft of experienced and renowned chefs, including Ines Romanelli, Sophia Hoffmann, Sebastian Copien and Josita Hartanto.

The Organic Spotlight will include presentations, case studies and discussions addressing the latest organic trends and challenges. This includes understanding the evolving consumer perception of organic, global market analysis, developing attractive marketing claims, EU import requirements for organic products, and sourcing organic ingredients.

A connection is made

As well as a wealth of opportunities to see and hear about all of the latest developments in this exciting sector, there will be the chance to meet with colleagues from around the world. Specific networking events have been organised, including the Women’s Networking Breakfast, which the organiser says will be “a morning of career-changing advice, networking and delicious food”. Additionally, there is also the Food Evolution Networking Breakfast, which concists of a breakfast and an introductory discussion before the screening of the documentary Food Evolution, a 2016 production directed by Academy Award-nominated director Scott Hamilton.

“Amidst a brutally polarised debate marked by passion, suspicion and confusion, Food Evolution explores the controversy surrounding GMOs and food,” reads the description of the film. Neil deGrasse Tyson travels the world, from the Hawaiian papaya groves, to banana farms in Uganda, to the cornfields of Iowa, the documentary “wrestles with the emotions and the science driving one of the most heated arguments of our time”.

It’s clear the event has much to offer and – if you’ll pardon the pun – no doubt food for thought.