rgest food and beverage fair, Anuga, opened its doors this week for the 32nd time.This year 6,777 exhibitors from 98 countries presented their products and services in Cologne, Germany.
The trade fair occupied the entire exhibition centre – a gross exhibition space of 284,000 m².
Anuga has been completely booked out for months. EU Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger and Dr. Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank, were in attendance at the opening ceremony.
There were many interesting highlights at Anuga. Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain visited the Spanish pavilion on day three of the Anuga trade show, and attracted a lot of attention.
One of the most eye-catching events was Italian private-label cheese manufacturer Castelli's announcement of plans to expand its export business by growing sales in central and eastern Europe and Asia.
Castelli, which is responsible for 30% of all Parmesan cheese exports from Italy, intends to drive revenue growth by growing its business in Russia and other central European countries, as well as expanding into China and Japan, Castelli UK general manager Mike Mills.
Anuga once again provided purchasers from the trade and buyers from the food service and catering market with a broadly based and multifaceted information and ordering platform.
In addition to major market-leading companies, numerous mid-sized and small suppliers took part.
The suppliers hailed from 98 countries, and the proportion of exhibitors from abroad was 88%. The largest contingents came from Italy (1,043 exhibitors), Spain (447), the People’s Republic of China (409), France (255), Turkey (239), Greece (221), the Netherlands (212), Belgium (189), the USA (189) and Thailand (161). Large numbers of participants were also sent by Poland, the UK and Austria.
