Both fairs have nearly 1,100 exhibitors and expect to receive more than 38,000 visitors
Hispack & FoodTech Barcelona display the strength of the packaging and food technology industries
From 8 to 11 May, Hispack & FoodTech Barcelona will be a major hub for business, knowledge and networking for the packaging and food technology industries, developing significant synergies and proving decisive in brand innovation. This is the fourth time that the fairs have been held together at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue, attracting nearly 1,100 exhibitors from 30 countries. It is expected that the figure of 38,000 visitors, 10% of them from abroad, that was registered at 2015, will be exceeded in this edition.
The combination of Hispack & FoodTech Barcelona make it one of Europe’s main platforms for technology, machinery and packaging for the food and drink industry, which is the main consumer of packaging and containers.
The figure of nearly 1,100 direct exhibitors means that 2,000 firms will be on display in the five pavilions of the Gran Via site, with a total exhibition space of 57,000m2, offering the food industry professionals a view of the whole life cycle of food production, from the ingredients to machinery and equipment that can handle any part of the manufacturing process, to the packaging and shipping, logistics and delivery to the point of sale.
The entire packaging life cycle
It is Hispack in particular –which attracts 800 direct exhibitors– that deals with the materials, technology, processes, logistics and solutions for manufacturing and the use of all types of packaging and containers for all industrial sectors and mass consumption markets – not just food – and advertising at the Point of Sale.
Sustainability, improving the experience of using packaging, automation towards the 4.0 industry, and packaging logistics will be the major topics of this edition that emphasises the strategic value of packaging in industry and the economy. In this context, Hispack will have four main areas for activities that will hold 70 conferences and round tables with more than 185 speakers to debate the four vectors that drive the development of packaging, and industry with an annual turnover of over 20,000 million euros in Spain.
Hispack will also include sessions for sector associations and bodies and the presentation of the Líderpack Awards, the most important in Spain for packaging and POS.
Machinery, technology and ingredients
For its part, FoodTech Barcelona will attract over 270 direct exhibitors with machinery, technology and equipment for the meat industry and for food in general, such as the latest developments in ingredients and semi-finished food products. At present, according to AMEC data, these sectors had a turnover of 769 million euros in 2017, offering their services to companies in the food industry that reached a production level of 96,400 million in that year in Spain, according to Fiab.
The business activity of FoodTech Barcelona will be distributed across three main fairs, Tecnocárnica, TecnoAlimentaria and TecnoIngredientes, and will host activities such as the Barcelona Biofilm Summit, an international summit at which food safety experts will address one of the major challenges facing the food industry: controlling the bacteria that adhere to food preparation surfaces and eliminating them effectively. It is estimated that nearly 23 million people in Europe suffer illness caused by biofilms, according to data from the AINIA technology centre.
Innovation and food technology will feature heavily in the conferences, round tables and sessions at the Innovation Meeting Point area, where the FoodTech Innova and FoodTech Emprende awards will also be presented. The Triptolemos FoodTechtransfer space will host meetings between industry professionals and researchers from the main Spanish universities and technology centres.
Alliance for international expansion
As in previous editions, Hispack & FoodTech Barcelona will continue to work for greater international growth, fostering business opportunities and contacts between agents in various countries that can lead to new export opportunities for Spanish packaging and technologies for the food industry. For this purpose, both fairs have a shared internationalization plan run by AMEC in which reverse business and trade delegations will attend and bring 500 buyers from countries such as Algeria, Chile, Morocco, Peru, Tunisia, Mexico, Colombia, Poland and Turkey, as well as machinery importers and distributors. Reverse commercial missions are being organized with some 30 companies from Argentina, Iran, India, Indonesia, and Thailand. For its part, Fira de Barcelona has promoted the visit of an institutional and company representation from Cuba.
At the same time, Hispack & FoodTech Barcelona are promoting a programme for international buyers to select and invite over 70 buyers from 12 countries with established investment projects for equipment, machinery and technology for processing, labelling and packaging in the food industry, as well as packaging materials and elements. This program will bring professionals from Australia, Chile, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Costa Rica, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, South Africa, Tunisia, and Turkey to attend with more than a thousand business interviews with the exhibitors scheduled by the organization. It is hoped that with these actions, over a thousand business interviews with the exhibitors will take place in the International Business Centre (IBC), in Pavilion 4 of the Gran Via site.
Livestock Forum
Hispack & FoodTech Barcelona will be held together from 8 to 10 May with Livestock Forum, a congress on how to reduce the use of antibiotics in cattle farms and sessions on the situation of poultry farming in Spain.
Those visiting each fair can use their passes to visit the other events.
Barcelona, 2nd May 2018