DOWN TO BUSINESS IN BARCELONA

SNACKEX 2011 took place at a time when many companies were tightening their purse strings, but judging by visitor numbers and feedback, it seems many in the industry took the view that attending the show in Barcelona was an investment that was likely to yield a worthwhile return.

From 12-14 June, over 1,900 snack industry professionals from 75 countries made their way to the capital of Catalonia for the 14th edition of the industry trade show and conference.

Their reasons for attending SNACKEX were varied. Bernd ter Glane, marketing director with Intersnack, said he came ‘for the whole package’. “It’s a nice mixture of presentations, exhibition space and networking. It was definitely worth coming,” he said. Aurélie Teyssier, director of marketing with Kraft Foods France, meanwhile, came in search of inspiration for product development.

“The show is very rich in terms of the number of suppliers and it is good to see that some companies are working on healthier solutions,” she said.

For Spanish snack manufacturer Grefusa, the goal was to meet existing suppliers and source technical solutions for automating parts of the plant, and the company’s commercial general director, Jaime López Bengoa, said this is exactly what he managed to do.“From a technical perspective, the show was excellent – we had two or three good meetings,” he said.

There were some concerns that SNACKEX might suffer from taking place just a month after the giant Interpack show. However, these fears were unfounded, with business on the exhibition floor as brisk as usual for the 103 exhibitors promoting snack related products and services.

“The first day was superb; in particular we had a good number of Spanish visitors,” said Torsten Giese, marketing manager with Ishida Europe. “I think maybe instead of going to Interpack, many Spanish companies chose to come here instead.”

Likewise, it was a ‘terrific show’ for pellet producer Leng D’Or. “We’ve had visitors from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and have been impressed with both the quality and the quantity of visitors,” said the company’s export director Jorge Marin.

In any case, like Leng D’Or, most of the companies who exhibit at SNACKEX do so not for the quantity of leads that the show generates, but for the quality of contacts. SNACKEX has always attracted key decision makers from snack producing companies, and this year was no exception.

Verónica Ballesteros, Liven’s corporate communications manager, said: “We are always impressed by the quality of the visitors – they tend to be decision makers and professionals, not like at the big exhibitions.”

Her views were echoed by John van Duin, senior sales manager with BMA, who said: “Other shows, in particular larger ones, seem to attract a lot of students and people who aren’t really interested in buying. Here the visitors are 100% focused on snacks and come with the clear intention of buying machinery or developing their business.”

In fact, Heat & Control CEO Jim Strang thought this year’s SNACKEX attracted even more decision makers than usual - perhaps due to the economic climate. “It’s been extremely busy,” he noted. “We’ve seen our existing customers, who have travelled from all over the world, but we have also met new people. What’s more they are the right kind of people. I think maybe the financial crisis has made companies more discerning about who they send to shows, which means they are sending the decision makers – people who know exactly what they are looking for.”

US bagmaking equipment manufacturer Formers International, another new exhibitor, used the show as a springboard into the European market, and said it had been 'excellent....generating some really good leads’.

In addition to the show floor exhibits, several special attractions proved popular with visitors. The focal point of the hall was the ESA pavilion, sponsored by Kerry Ingredients & Flavours. This featured a display and sampling area, where visitors tucked into a wide selection of bagged snacks that were chosen by Kerry to demonstrate the three trends that are currently driving savoury snacks NPD: innovation, new flavours and better for you.

The two-day conference, which ran in parallel to the exhibition, was a highlight for many delegates.

Dr Alan Treadgold, head of retail strategy with advertising agency Leo Burnett Group, kicked off proceedings with an entertaining keynote presentation in which he navigated delegates through the ‘new landscape of shopper engagement’. “We’re in an era of discontinuous change,” he told delegates. “The past won’t be a useful barometer because of technological, social and economic forces.

Priorities are being reset and consumers are talking less about money and more about time and energy.

So the lesson for brand owners is to address these higher-order objectives, rather than just providing value for money.”

Another highlight of the conference programme was AC Nielsen’s overview of the market, which was delivered by Jean-Jacques Vandenheede, the company’s director of retailer insights in Europe.

Vandenheede warned delegates not to assume too strong a link between what is happening in the economy and consumer purchasing behaviour, saying: “There is a connection, but that connection is weak. The consumer is remarkably stable; there has been no change in consumer shopping patterns.”

His address was well received. Nataïs Popcorn general manager Jerome Rethore said afterwards: “The Nielsen presentation was extremely interesting because it was very focused on the retailer perspective.”