SNACKEX 2009
SNACKEX, organised by the European Snacks Association, is the largest savoury snacks and peanut event in Europe , and serves as the meeting place for the snack and nut industries. The event is a unique opportunity to buy, sell and network with industry professionals and decision makers. Attendees will have numerous opportunities to interact with like-minded individuals at the exhibition and during social functions, including the welcome reception, lunches, and coffee breaks that will take place at the event.
EXHIBITORS are companies involved in the production and marketing of savoury snacks, potato chips, corn chips, potato sticks, peanuts, other snack nuts such as almonds and pistachios, tortillas, pretzels, popcorn, rice products, crackers, flips, savoury biscuits, breadchips, meat snacks, baked cheese or salted products, extruded or pelleted snacks. Every product imaginable is represented on the trade show floor, from the classic lines consumers buy year after year, to the many new products introduced.
ATTENDEES including conference DELEGATES and exhibition VISITORS are buyers from all classes of trade including snack manufacturers; importers, exporters, suppliers, nut traders, distributors and brokers, making SNACKEX the ‘must attend' show of the year.
For more information on exhibiting or attending future SNACKEX events, please CALL +44(20) 7420 7220 / FAX +44(20) 7420 7221 / email esa@esa.org.uk
SNACKEX 2007
Read full SNACKEX 07 post show report
Read press release on Robert Madelin's keynote conference address
Read European Commission announcement
From 3-5 June 2007, over 2,000 snack industry professionals from all over the world made their way to Barcelona for the 12th edition of SNACKEX, and whether industry veterans or first-time visitors, they weren’t disappointed with what they found.
Dr Hermann Meng, food safety and quality systems manager with LU Snack Foods (Germany), has visited the show many times before. He said: “I come to SNACKEX every time to see what’s new, to meet up with old friends and to learn about developments in the snack business. I’ve seen some interesting new things this week.”
Olga Muraviova, brand director with Bridgetown Foods (Russia), said she found the show really useful for monitoring new trends. “Russia is probably about two or three years behind Western Europe so by coming to SNACKEX we get to see where the new trends are.”
Nazan Ugur from Procter & Gamble (Switzerland) described the event as a ‘useful congress’ with a ‘lively show floor’, while Dmytro Kopylov, project engineer with Kraft Foods (Ukraine) said that seeing so many savoury snack related products and companies under one roof was a highlight for him.
The show’s appeal lies in its tightly defined focus for it's 120+ exhibitors.
“It’s a specialist show, so we get to see the right people - the decision makers and the quality control people,” said Bjorn Thumas, area sales manager with sorting equipment specialist Best NV (Belgium).
John Boutsikaris, senior VP sales and marketing with conveyor supplier Key Technology (USA), told how “People are here for a reason rather than to walk round and collect goodies, so we’ve generated some really strong leads,” he said.
With much industry growth taking place in the developing markets of Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, many exhibitors were pleased to see strong visitor representation from these regions.
Barbara Campbell, co-director at new and rebuilt equipment supplier Extrusion Link (UK), said: “There were lots of interesting countries represented - Iran, Jordan and the Lebanon - which is good as there isn’t any real growth in the European market.”
This view was echoed by Goran Wadsten, sales and marketing director with snack processing equipment supplier FMC Foodtech (Sweden), who said: “There are a lot of people from different countries, and a lot of newcomers to the industry, from the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe.”
The ESA Snacks Pavilion returned to SNACKEX 07, with a 50% bigger footprint than in 2005, providing an interactive forum for addressing industry trends and issues. This year, the pavilion was divided into three zones, focused on ESA’s three working groups.
Sponsored by PepsiCo International, the Communications Working Group zone gave members the opportunity to learn more about how the Association is communicating with stakeholders on key issues like obesity and labelling. Advice on regulatory issues such as nutrition and health, mycotoxins and acrylamide was sought at the Regulatory Working Group area, sponsored by Givaudan, while snack nut manufacturers discussed regulatory, trade and communication issues relating to nut processing on the Nut Processors’ Working Group zone, sponsored by Lorenz Snack-World.
In the World of Taste & Trends, visitors tucked into a wide selection of bagged snacks sourced from around the world by Kerry Snack Flavourings, gleaning insight into different approaches to labelling, packaging, flavouring and base materials.
Obesity, health, NPD and the imminent nutrition and health claims regulation were recurrent themes throughout SNACKEX, featuring prominently in the two-day conference programme which ran alongside the exhibition.
Robert Madelin, director general, EU Commission for Health & Consumer Protection, kicked off the proceedings with a presentation on tackling obesity, in which he commended the snacks industry for its efforts to reformulate its products, improve consumer information and act as responsible advertisers. He encouraged continued partnership building and extended networks as the way forward.
Madelin stressed the importance of engaging business in an open and tolerant way to make the Commission’s recently drafted White Paper on Nutrition - a success for society.
“Rules are necessary,” commented Madelin, “but more important are the extended networks around legislation, building partnerships from farmers to food and drink companies and national authorities in order to develop and spread best practice.”
On a similarly positive note, in his presentation on the new nutrition and health claims legislation, Herman Koëter, deputy executive director and director of science with EFSA (the European Food Safety Authority), hinted that it was likely that nutrient profiles would be drawn up on a category by category basis - an approach that would be welcomed by the snack industry. He told delegates that work on nutrient profiles had already started and that by the end of the year, the panel should have formulated a draft approach.
With the International Peanut Forum now fully integrated into SNACKEX, snack nuts commanded a significant share of the exhibition floor space as well as the conference schedule. Presentations explored health and nutrition aspects as well as hot industry topics such as supply forecasts and import / export controls.
In his presentation on the health benefits of nuts, Victor Fulgoni, vice president of Nutrition Impact, LLC, urged nut snack makers, when looking at market opportunities, to focus on areas that ‘resonate with consumers’, such as heart health and weight management.
He predicted that the ability of nuts to help control body weight, through their effect on satiety and glycemic response, could become a big area in the future.
“SNACKEX 07 has provided a great opportunity to meet people in the nuts business, from farmers and shellers to equipment suppliers and snack nut manufacturers,” said Louise McKerchar, European marketing director with the American Peanut Council.
Thank you to our SNACKEX 2007 sponsors:
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