Anuga 2011: International expertise for the food sector

Cologne / DE. (km) This year Anuga will demonstrate its international expertise for the food sector for the 31st time. With 6’596 suppliers on a gross exhibition space of 284’000 square metres, the trade fair is booked out. The trade fair will be opened by Dr. Guido Westerwelle, the Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Francesco Saverio Romano, the Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy of the Republic of Italy. For five days, from 08th to 12th October 2011, suppliers from 100 countries will be showing the entire global product range of food and beverages.

Exhibitors

With 6’596 exhibiting companies, Anuga is the world´s largest and most important trade fair for the food and beverage industry. In addition to major market-leading companies, numerous mid-sized and small suppliers will be taking part. A total of 86 percent of the exhibitors will be coming from abroad. The largest contingents will be coming from Italy (1’057 exhibitors), Spain (467), the People´s Republic of China (407), France (262), the Netherlands (214), Greece (211), Belgium (206), Türkiye (197), the USA (165) and Thailand (162). Large contingents will also be coming from Poland, Austria, the UK, Argentina and Brazil.

Structure

Anuga is divided into ten trade shows: Anuga Fine Food; Chilled + Fresh Food; Meat; Frozen Food; Dairy; Bread + Bakery and Hot Beverages; Drinks; FoodService; RetailTec; Organic. The trade show concept divides Anuga into individual markets. Every trade show has an unmistakable and clearly recognizable individual profile. In 2011, there will be a new trade show: Anuga FoodService, a further development of Anuga CateringTec. It will expertly respond to the growing trend of eating out. Anuga Chilled + Fresh Food has also been restructured, and now covers the entire range of fresh convenience products, fresh delicatessen products, fish, fruit and vegetables.

Trends

The trends covered at Anuga offer information that cuts across all of the trade shows. They have been identified in the exhibitors´ product ranges and can be called up via the multifunctional exhibitor database. They include: Gourmet products and regional specialities; Halal food; Organic products; Vegetarian products; Health and functional food; Kosher products; Finger food; Own brands; Industrial ingredients – this new trend topic includes items such as spices and fruit preparations for industrial food processing.

Italy will be Anuga´s partner country in 2011

The influence of Italian cuisine on the product range of the food trade and the catering sector is extremely important all over the world. So Italy is clearly a logical choice as Anuga´s partner country this year, following Thailand and Türkiye at previous events. At Anuga a total of 1’057 suppliers will impressively demonstrate the Italian food industry´s tremendous diversity and wide-ranging spectrum of expertise. The Italian contingent´s main stand at Anuga 2011 will be in Hall 11.2 at Anuga Fine Food. However, you will also find Italian foods and beverages in every other trade show, with typical specialities presented by the different regions and individual exhibitors, as well as at presentations by more than one company. A gala Italian evening on 8th October at the Rheinterrassen will also familiarise the invited guests with Italian delicacies and the Italian way of life.

Supporting programme

Conferences and presentations involving high-calibre participants will offer comprehensive information and many opportunities for sharing ideas with other sector players. The action officially begins on the evening before the first day of Anuga with a get-together for representatives of the industry and the trade. At the Anuga Executive Summit we will be welcoming Paul Bulcke, CEO of the Nestlé Group, and Markus Mosa, CEO of Edeka Hamburg, as the keynote speakers. Further events will be the sector events «Dairy Unlimited» and «Frozen Food» with the presentation of the Golden Ice Crystal 2011 award and the debut of the meat sector get-together «Meat Essential».

Another new feature will be the «Chef of the Year» competition for professional chefs. The final round of the competition will be held starting at 09:00 on Monday, 10th October 2011, on the Anuga Culinary Stage. A total of eight finalists from among these talented young up-and-coming chefs will be competing with one another by creating a three-course meal for the critical members of the expert jury.

Special shows

• taste11 – New products and innovations are a crucial engine of growth in the food business. The exhibitors´ most innovative products, selected by an expert jury, will be on display. Boulevard North.
• Wellfood Forum – The Black Box. Wellness, health and functional food are the current buzzwords in the food sector. Anuga will be offering a separate sector platform for functional foods (Hall 5.1, Stand A-013).
• Fully Organic. At the «Fully Organic» special show, organic foods will be expertly presented for the fifth time since Anuga 2003, in cooperation with the editors of bioPress. In addition to the approximately 1’600 exhibitors offering organic products and the more than 250 exhibitors of exclusively organic products in the Anuga Organic hall, visitors will find more than 2’000 organic products for the food retail trade concentrated in the «Fully Organic» special show – Hall 5.1, Stand E-001.

The Retail Forum – Food – Quality – Value

At Anuga 2011, the Federal Association of the German Retail Grocery Trade (BVL) will once again present current innovative topics and projects from the food industry. In line with the slogan «Food – Quality – Value», the event will showcase three leading quality assurance initiatives for food. In cooperation with the Bundesverband Deutsche Tafel (National Association of Food Banks in Germany), the BVL will present ways in which excess food can be sensibly used. In collaboration with GS1 Germany GmbH, it will also demonstrate how the mobile Internet is ensuring transparency regarding the production, origins and composition of food. The Bundesfachschule des Lebensmittelhandels (Federal College of the Food Trade) in Neuwied will present itself at the BVL stand as an example of the basic and advanced training being offered by the trade. In cooperation with the EHI Retail Institute, the BVL will also take part in the Retail Forum, where it will present the latest figures on damage and spoilage in the German food trade (centre section of the Boulevard).

Joint stand of BMELV and BVE focuses on quality «made in Germany»

The Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) and the Federation of German Food and Drink Industries (BVE) are presenting themselves together on the central German joint stand in Anuga Fine Food (Hall 10.2, Stand A040 – C049). The BVE, in cooperation with companies and associations, will be presenting for the first time ever an exhibition on the subject of quality titled «Food Products: Responsibility». More than 40 companies from the German federal states of Bavaria, Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, and Thuringia will be grouped around the joint stand. Together they will be offering a diverse range of high-quality products «made in Germany». Other focal points of the presentation include the BMELV information stand with lounge, show kitchen, Anuga matchmaking and – the highlight of the presentation – the third German Traders´ Night on 08th October 2011, to which the BMELV and BVE have personally invited the German exhibitors at Anuga and numerous guests from the international trade. High-ranking politicians from the German federal government and the federal states are expected to attend the event. What´s more, the BVE and Lebensmittel Zeitung will, for the fifth time, introduce prominent guests from the industry, the trade and the political sphere on every day of the fair as part of the interview series «Discussions with Entrepreneurs».

High-ranking representatives from the areas of politics, business and international organisations will discuss approaches to the global challenge of ensuring food security under the main topic «Food Security: A Global Challenge for Business Leaders and Governments» on 09th October 2011. Ilse Aigner, the Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, will open the event with a statement (14:30 until 17:30, Congress-Saal, Congress Centre East). Additional speakers are OECD Director Ken Ash and Peter Kendall, President of the National Farmers´ Union. Hans-Jürgen Matern, Vice-President Metro AG, will speak for business. Around 500 representatives from the international agricultural and food business are expected to attend as guests.

Catering Marketplace, powered by Metro

The joint stand of the Dehoga (the German Hotel and Restaurant Association) national association, Dehoga NRW, Koelnmesse and METRO Cash + Carry at Anuga 2011 will once again form the entire sector´s communication and information platform this year (Hall 7.1, Stand E-110). Three times a day, the celebrity chef Armin Langer will transform the Dehoga Catering Marketplace into a veritable hotbed of new ideas about the trendy theme of fish for a half-hour. First-hand knowledge and concrete tips for daily business practice will be available at the forums held several times a day on sector topics such as hygiene, Gema fees, energy / sustainability and offers for people with allergies. Other highlights will include the new brochure «Kleine Gäste ganz groß. So punkten Sie bei Kindern und Eltern» (Little guests are big business: How to score points with children and their parents) which will be presented at Anuga on Sunday 09th October, and the opening of the NRW wild game week with Johannes Remmel, the NRW minister responsible for consumer protection, on Tuesday 11th October.

The Forum for System Catering of the Hotel and Restaurant Trade Initiative Group in Dehoga will take place for the 21st time on Tuesday, 11th October, this time with Professor Kurt Biedenkopf as the keynote speaker. Further events will include the presentation «Trend inspirations for 2012: Innovations from the major cities of Asia, Europe and the USA», presented by the international expert on trends in the restaurant and catering sector, Pierre Nierhaus, as well as remarks by one of Europe´s best-known caterers, KP Kofler, titled «From sports hospitality to pop-up restaurants: The catering and restaurant business has changed with the times». Dehoga is also the organizer of the 10th national Trainee Awards for System Catering (09th to 11th October 2011).

Anuga Gourmet Festival

«Enjoyment for all the senses» will be the motto when the Anuga Gourmet Festival takes place for the second time in Cologne. The culinary journey will begin on Tuesday, 04th October and will tour the top addresses in the Cologne catering and retail scenes before concluding on Friday, 14th October 2011. The Shopping Night, with «gourmet islands» and Italian flair, which will take place in Cologne´s city centre on 08th October, is expecting to welcome visitors from near and far. More information is available on the Anuga website, where visitors can also download the «CologneGourmet» app. The Anuga Gourmet Festival will be open to all.

Visitors and opening hours

About 150’000 trade visitors from all over the world are expected to attend. In 2009 the visitors came from 180 countries and the proportion of visitors from outside Germany was 63 percent. Anuga is open to trade visitors only. Anuga will be open from 09:00 to 18:00 from Saturday, 08th October to Wednesday, 12th October 2011. The organizers of Anuga are Koelnmesse GmbH and the Federal Association of the German Retail Grocery Trade (BVL), Berlin. The conceptual sponsors of Anuga are the Federation of German Food and Drink Industries (BVE) and the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga). Both organizations are based in Berlin.