US Visitors and Companies Among the Key International Participants at Alimentaria Barcelona
BARCELONA, Spain, May 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
Alimentaria Barcelona, one of the main food, drink and foodservice trade shows worldwide closed successfully its biggest edition in years to offer the food industry a major platform for internationalization and business, with a high level of innovation, making gastronomy its differentiating factor. The event, that took place from 16 to 19 April 2018 at Fira de Barcelona (Spain) attracted some 300 buyers from the United States, the first non-European country in number of attendees.
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With a net exhibition space of over 100,000 sq. m, the joint organization of the show with Hostelco, the International Exhibition of Equipment for Restaurants, Hotels and Mass Catering, offers both the retail and HoReCa sectors the most comprehensive and cross-cutting offering to date. Some 4,500 exhibiting firms, - 27% of whom came from outside Spain - and more than 150,000 professional visitors (30% International) attended the show, in which close to 12,500 meetings between international buyers and exhibiting companies took place.
In Alimentaria 2018, the USA was the 8th most represented nation in terms of visitors and occupied the first position as a non-European country. The trade show invited over 100 professionals representing key American food and drink companies to join its Hosted Buyers program to visit the show (including Walmart, H.E.B. Grocery, Fairways and American Northwest Distribution) that were taking part in scheduled business meetings with exhibitors.
Furthermore, Alimentaria hosted a pavilion representing the USA with 8 companies interested in looking for the best business opportunities in Spain and Southern Europe. Many of them are focused on organic and healthy products, such as Chosen Foods (avocado oils and mayonnaises), San Saba Pecan, LP (nuts) and USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council (pulses).
The USA is the sixth biggest destination market for Spanish food and drink exports, with €1.5 billion ($1.83 billion) of trade in 2016, representing 5,6% of all the purchases, according to the Spanish Federation of Food and Drink Industries (FIAB). Olive oil, wine and olives are the three most exported Spanish goods.
Gastronomic excellence
Close to 20,000 professionals participated in more than 200 activities that took place in Alimentaria 2018, with exceptional protagonists: a selected group of chefs that own close to 45 Michelin stars (Carme Ruscalleda, Paco Pérez or Ángel León among others), while top international wine experts such as Jancis Robinson and Nick Lander participated in the Vinorum Think event.
SOURCE Fira de Barcelona
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