Annapoorna World of Food India 2015, the much anticipated food and beverage industry event, kicked off at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, on Monday. The event will be on till September 16, 2015.
Giving details on the 10th edition of the event, Ravi Verma, expo manager, FICCI, which is co-organising the event along with Koelnmesse YA Tradefair, stated, "The event has around 200 plus exhibitors and has received equal participants from India and abroad. There are government initiatives which have been exhibited by Governments of Orissa and Karnataka." The state of Jharkhand also has a prominent presence in the event. The organisers are expecting about 9,000 participants this year.
Speaking on behalf of one of the key participants, United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service, Adam Brandon, informed, "It's our fifth year in Annapoorna. Through this exhibition we are looking for long-term interest in Indian market of food and beverage. Last year, we got great exposure from this event and had business from about 10 companies. This time too we are looking forward."
Meanwhile, Gaurav Singh from OneCert Asia Agri Certification Pvt Ltd, said, "Annapoorna has been a good platform for business exposure and tie-ups and that is why its been three years we are at this event. We provide certification for food businesses and this year we are looking for about 20 clients."
B S Gurudath, Visvesvaraya Trade Promotion Centre, Karnataka, stated, "It's been six years, we are at Annapoorna exhibition, looking for investors in food sector. Last year, we had got great exposure and we are looking for the same this time too."
Conference
A conference titled "Food Safety Beyond Boundaries: Time to Rethink, Re-evaluate and Resolve Issues" was held on the first day.
As part of Session One, V K Singh from Export Inspection Council of India spoke on exports from India to other nations. He looked at how India can improve exports to gain foreign currency. Kavita Tarade, head, India regulatory affairs, Wild Flavors & Specialty Ingredients, spoke on how to do business easily within laws.
Tarang Koppal, DGM, laboratory services, TUV Nord, spoke on the significance and the need for implying testing and certification in India regarding quality, food production and packaging.
Session Two had speakers like Prabodh Halde, head, regulatory, Marico, who spoke on how exporters should adhere to the laws and food safety standards within and outside the boundaries of the nation. He further explained in detail licensing and FDA laws in the US, Canada and the EU.
Session Three had a brief special session dedicated to Argentina. It was about Argentinian lemon and promotion of that country’s production in India to encourage business.
Ingredients manufacturers, representatives of food processing industries, and export facilitation departments of governments participated in the conference.
