Anuga 2021 in high demand

A strong participation of more than 4,000 exhibitors from 94 countries – industry shows strong commitment to the leading global trade fair for food and beverages

Anuga, the largest trade fair regarding the number of exhibitors and exhibition space, opens its doors in the regular mode at the fair grounds of Koelnmesse on 9 October. The result is impressive, because with over 4,000 exhibiting companies, Anuga 2021 boasts an excellent alignment after the pandemic.

“Hence, we will be the largest trade fair in Europe – if not indeed worldwide – after the re-start of the trade fair industry. The trade fair will be staged in 11 halls of the fair grounds. The newly constructed Hall 1, which satisfies all of the modern demands of a trade fair, will also celebrate its premiere during Anuga. This really is a strong signal, which we here at Koelnmesse and the trade fair industry as a whole can build on. Furthermore, this good resonance also confirms how much the industry is looking forward to this year’s Anuga as the most important trade fair for food and beverages after the long abstinence,” explained Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse GmbH, at the business conference of Anuga.

Overall, the net exhibition space booked is currently two thirds of the amount booked in 2019. Whereby twelve percent of the stand area is booked by domestic exhibitors and 88 percent by foreign exhibitors. With a current exhibitor participation from 94 countries, the level of internationality of Anuga is as high as usual and will continue to set benchmarks with regards to its product diversity and innovations. The ten country participations with the highest number of exhibitors come from Belgium, Germany, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Turkey and the USA.

In terms of visitors, Anuga will once again unite national and international top decision-makers from the trade, industry and out-of-home market from all over the world. The number of visitors will no doubt not quite match the previous event in the year 2019. The decision as to whether to visit the trade fair is being taken much more spontaneously and at shorter notice than usual. However, numerous renowned food dealers and distributors from over 50 different countries have already confirmed their attendance. Among others, ALDI Einkauf SE & Co. oHG, Eismann Tiefkühl-Heimservice GmbH, Gate Group (formerly the LSG Group), Metro AG, REWE Group Buying GmbH as well as Supermarketfoods Asia and World Finer Foods are planning to visit Anuga.

Furthermore, the significance of Anuga as the leading global trade fair for food and beverages is going to be reinforced by the participation of Julia Klöckner, Federal Minister for Food & Agriculture and Armin Laschet, Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia at the opening of the trade fair.

The leading global trade fair for food and beverages is treading new paths for the first time with its hybrid concept for the trade fair, which foresees the physical trade on-site in Cologne being additionally enhanced by the digital format, Anuga @home. In addition to the Showrooms of the exhibiting companies, the digital counterpart to the exhibition stand, there are for instance target group-specific specialised stages such as the Trend Zone, which will provide valuable information and analyses on industry developments as well as interesting start-up pitches or panel discussions. The trade fair participants can engage in extensive networking opportunities on various specialist areas and fields of interest per audio, video or chat communication options.

“Anuga @home will thus bring the industry players all over the world together regardless of their location or time zone and create a digital trade fair experience on the screens at home or in the office. Furthermore, we can offer our customers a host of new participation options and set new benchmarks regarding international reach, lead generation and networking over the coming years,” Böse emphasised further.

Available from 11.-13-10.2021, the start of the digital event Anuga @home is staggered. A large range of contents will also be available there on-demand after the trade fair has closed. 

In terms of content, Anuga will pick up where the 2019 anniversary edition of Anuga left off and as a global driving force of the industry provide an outlook on the new developments and innovations of the industry. This year’s edition is focusing on the food transformation, which has picked up even more speed due to the pandemic and has once again underlined the volatility of the global food and ecosystem as well as the necessity for a global food change. Trade fairs like Anuga are always a reflection of the market, which not only actively accompany the transformation process, but which also support the industry in carrying on and sustainably securing its economic success. Under the key topic, “Transform”, Anuga is not only presenting trailblazing future themes in the scope of new event and congress formats, but is also offering the international product diversity the leading global trade fair stands for with its customary 10 trade shows under one roof.

The new special events “Anuga Clean Label”, “Anuga Free From, Health & Functional Foods“ as well as the Anuga Meet More Meatless“ format within Anuga Meat pick up on new consumer needs and offer buyers and the media an overview of product innovations in these trend categories.

In the congress section, the New Food Conference is celebrating its Anuga debut this year. Here, Anuga will be the first food trade fair to focus on the theme cell-based proteins, so-called “laboratory meat” as well as on alternative dairy products. What’s more, the sustainability conference of the Centre for Sustainable Corporate Management (ZNU) will examine the complexity of a wide range of sustainability challenges across the supply chain such as, for example, the climate, packaging, food losses and human rights. The innovation summit, Newtrition X, will be addressing topics of change and will provide insights into new cognitions regarding personalised diets. This year’s Anuga Executive Summit, to be held on the eve of Anuga, will also focus on the food transformation.

The transformation becomes most visible when assessing the food trends and product innovations of Anuga 2021. Here it is demonstrated that the food and beverage industry is encountering the challenges of the transformation with new approaches and innovative products. Trends such as alternative meat proteins, clean label, plant-based proteins or food such as sustainably-produced or packaged will thus also be reflected in the Anuga taste Innovation Show, the trend barometer of Anuga. Here, for the first time the trade fair participants can look forward to double the amount of innovative power this year. For example, the Anuga taste Innovation Show is participating both on the digital stage of Anuga @home this year as well as with a physical special event format in Hall 4.1. The top innovations of 2021 will be present, which have been selected by an expert jury comprising of journalists and market researchers – for top buyers a benchmark as to which products will be found on the shelves next.

But Anuga not only offers buyers, but also experts from the food service area several highlights. For example, one can start the day off at the Anuga trade fair with a breakfast in the hack enjoyment and beer garden or in the DEHOGA Lounge in Hall 7. Furthermore, the stage of the Anuga Culinary Concept in Hall 7 invites guests to attend cooking shows, lectures and product presentations. As in the previous years, this is where the finals of the two established professional competitions “Chef of the Year” and “Patissier of the Year” take place. Furthermore, the 30th DEHOGA System Catering Forum as well as the Gastro Power breakfast, which is also being staged as a hybrid event this year, provide professionals from the out-of-home market with valuable information. Themes such as contract food service in Europe or the expectations placed in the food service industry after COVID-19 are to be addressed here.

Anuga is still taking place under special circumstances and Koelnmesse has accordingly undertaken extensive preparations to ensure the Corona-conform conduction of the trade fair, including a comprehensive package of measures that have been put together under the term #B-SAFE4business. The current Corona Protection Ordinance of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has provided significantly more planning security in this regard.

The basic requirement for holding a safe trade fair is the implementation of the 3G principle, which we call CH3CK with our foreign trade fair guests in mind. All trade fair guests, service providers and journalists go through the same process and are only allowed to enter the fair grounds if they are full vaccinated, recovered or have tested negative for COVID. In order to make everything run as smoothly as possible, it will also be possible to have a test carried out at the fair grounds. In this way, Anuga will ensure the best possible safety in the exhibition halls.

Anuga 2021 is being staged on-site in Cologne 9 to 13 October and is exclusively open to trade visitors. In addition to this, the digital format Anuga @home is available from 11 to 13 October.

Koelnmesse organises Anuga in close and trusting cooperation with the Federal Association of the German Retail Grocery Trade e.V., Berlin, (BVLH). Other industry sponsors include the Federation of German Food and Drink Industries and the German Hotel and Restaurant Association.Koelnmesse – industry trade fairs for the food and beverage sector: Koelnmesse is an international leader in organising trade fairs in the food and beverage segment. Events such as Anuga and ISM are established, world-leading trade fairs, hosted in Cologne/Germany. In addition to the events at its Cologne headquarters, Koelnmesse also stages numerous food trade fairs with different sector-specific areas of focus and content in further key markets across the world, including Brazil, China, India, Japan, Columbia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. These global activities enable Koelnmesse to offer its customers bespoke events and leading regional trade fairs in a variety of markets, thus creating the foundation for sustainable international business. Koelnmesse is also ideally positioned in the field of food technology with its leading international trade fairs Anuga FoodTec and ProSweets Cologne and its global network of satellite events. 

The next events:
Anuga – The leading trade fair for the global food industry, Cologne 09.10. – 13.10.2021
ISM – The world’s largest trade fair for sweets and snacks, Cologne 30.01. – 02.02.2022
ProSweets Cologne – The international supplier fair for the sweets and snacks industry, Cologne 30.01. – 02.02.2022

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