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Sustainability, economic recovery among exhibition topics
The Food ingredients Europe (FiE) 2009 Exhibition held November 17-19, 2009, in Frankfurt, Germany, was a premier meeting place for the global ingredients industry. The 1,260 exhibitors from 55 countries, among them 350 newcomers, welcomed over 20,000 visitors for professional contacts and discussions, making this FiE exhibition a successful business event. The number of booths represented a 12% increase compared to FiE 2007 (see inform 75:65-67, 2008). The Canadian pavilion comprised 30 company booths, the US pavilion 30+ companies, and the Chinese pavilion 100. (These numbers represent only the smaller companies' booths, because many companies with a large European market volume occupied their own booths.) In conjunction with FiE, Nutritional ingredients 2009 (Ni) was held. Booth representatives for both exhibitions were enthusiastic about the high number of contacts, which may signal economic recovery. Most company representatives reported recovering sales turnover starting during the third quarter of 2009, after weak sales in the first half of 2009. Exhibitors and visitors were in a positive mood.
FIE 2009 AWARD WINNERS
Best innovations in five categories (Dairy, Savory/Meat, Confectionery, Bakery, and Snacks/On the Go) were selected by a group of world-class judges. A short list of two or three nominees per category had the opportunity to present their innovations to both the judges and the public on the first day of the exhibition, after which the award ceremony took place.
National Starch Food Innovation (Manchester, United Kingdom) received the Fi Excellence Innovation of the Year Award for its ingrethent N-Dulge FR - a co-texturizer that enables the amount of butter, margarine, or shortening used in cake recipes to be reduced by 75%. Explaining the panel's decision, Henry Dixon, chair of judges, said: "The judges quickly identified two frontrunners for this award. In our final analysis we looked for an ingrethent that not only benefits the manufacturer and retailer but that also holds out the promise of helping consumers overcome a real and significant challenge."
Confectionery Innovation of the Year was Fuji Oil Europe's Redusat, which contains half the amount of saturates as normal saturated fats, but maintains the same structure. The product addresses a major problem in health and nutrition: overconsumption of saturated fats. Saturated fats increase the risk of...