It proved the most successful Food Africa in its history and a pacprocess
MEA on course for growth: after an economically challenging year the
trade fair duo of the interpack alliance set numerous positive impulses and
trigged good business deals. 5 to 7 December saw 25,821 visitors from
over 60 countries come to the Egypt International Exhibition Center in
Cairo to gather information on innovations and trends and expand their
contacts, especially with Africa and the Arab world. They met with 738
exhibitors from 32 countries as well as 14 national participations and joint
stands. This corresponds to a 60% increase in visitors and an increase of
around 70% in exhibitors compared to the previous event.
“The impressive development of the event but also the mood and
conversations on site illustrate once again that Africa and the Middle East
are attractive destinations for many companies. Those not joining the fray,
leave opportunities untapped. The integration of Food Africa into our
portfolio sends out a signal. With this move we offer a unique platform for
accessing Africa’s mega market for food,” says Thomas Dohse, Director
of interpack Portfolios Processing & Packaging as the three–day event
draws to a close. Since late 2021 Food Africa has been a part of the
interpack alliance and is held jointly by Messe Düsseldorf and its partners
IFP Egypt and Konzept. For years it has been the No. 1 for the African
food industry and – together with pacprocess MEA – it has now further
strengthened its position as a must–attend event for the region.
This year Food Africa again painted a comprehensive picture of all sub–
sectors of the food industry and agricultural sector. Finished food, dates,
seafood, fresh produce, herbs and spices, packaging and processing
technologies.
The fact that these trade fairs also receive strong support by Egyptian
policy–makers was evidenced among other things by the event being
opened by the Minister for Trade and Industry, Ahmed Samir and the
Minister for Supply and Internal Trade, Aly Meselhy.
Targeted networking and information
The spectrum of topics addressed at the accompanying conference
ranged from global market developments such as digitalisation and
sustainability to specifically regional content. At Food Africa the national
strategy for the Egyptian date economy was presented, for example,
which is of major importance to the country and seeing rising demand
worldwide.
Food Africa and pacprocess MEA are also synonymous with the targeted
networking between trade buyers and exhibitors on site. Proving a special
benefit again this year was the Hosted Buyers Programme featuring more
than 500 participants from 63 countries. This way trade relations were
promoted selectively.
pacprocess MEA grows alongside Food Africa
114 exhibitors were presented at the third edition of pacprocess MEA,
which is specifically tailored to the local market and maps the value chain
of the packaging sector and related process industries. Here, too, a
positive conclusion emerged after three days. “With this year’s event we
have taken the next step into an important growth market,” says Thomas
Dohse, and adds: “We will continue strengthening pacprocess MEA with
a view to offering the sector ideal prerequisites for establishing a foothold
in this exciting region. In doing so, we regard the parallel scheduling with
Food Africa as a very decisive factor just like the cooperation with our
partners on site.” There are numerous synergies generated by this trade
fair duo because all decision–makers get together in one place.
In 2023 Food Africa and pacprocess MEA will again be held in Cairo in
December.
www.foodafrica–expo.com
www.pacprocess–mea.com
Exhibitor Testimonials
“As the Schütz company we are very satisfied with the results of the trade
fair. During our first participation in pacprocess MEA we succeeded in
establishing valuable contacts and having many good conversations.
Cooperation with the trade fair team was outstanding and the Pavilion was
the right platform for us.”
Axel Schäfer, Global Head of Marketing & Commercial Product
Management, Schütz GmbH & Co. KGaA.
“Food Africa was very good in terms of the number and quality of visitors,
especially from Egypt and the Middle East. We would like to see more
visitors from the African states at our stand. After a difficult economic
situation this year, we now realise that demand is rising. We are satisfied
and plan to participate again in 2023.”
Önder Cakirci, General Manager Buram GmbH
“We have been operating on the Egyptian market since 2012. pacprocess
MEA was our first trade fair participation since the Covid crisis. We met
both new customers and existing clients, especially from Egypt. We hope
that these leads will result in deals. It is always important to show a
presence and we think that this trade fair holds plenty of potential. It has
been a good decision to link it with Food Africa and a strong food sector.”
Panagiotis Konstantarakos, Head of Exports, Europe, THRACE
PLASTICS PACK Co. S.A.
“Egypt is an exciting market for us because there are many producers
here who could potentially become our customers. At this year’s
pacprocess MEA we met with many existing customers who attended the
concurrently held Food Africa. At present, however, the investment
climate still is rather difficult also on account of the devaluation of the local
currency.”
Markus Rustler, Managing Partner of Theegarten–Pactec GmbH & Co
“We welcomed many customers to our stand and they were very
interested in our products – sugarfree sweets. The visitors hailed from all
over the world, especially from this region here, but also from the USA,
UK, Brazil, many Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates,
Kuwait, Qatar and, of course, Egypt.”
Maciey Alaba, General Director of Factory Burro
“The participation proved beneficial for us in order to introduce ourselves,
our portfolio and our local manufacturing options to the Egyptian market.
It was simply important to meet the people face to face. It was also
interesting to get to know the market. This also gave us the opportunity to
meet potential new partners and suppliers here.”
Sabrina Wahr, Key Account Manager MENA ALPLA
“We founded our company six months ago and would now like to grow
internationally. At the trade fair we have met a great number of potential
customers from Egypt and Africa. Food Africa was our very first trade fair
experience and it has been an immediate success.”
Said Hamdy, Export Manager Siam Ocean
“This year was our third Food Africa. The Egyptian market is our main
market for Polish apples and therefore the No. 1 export nation. In 2021,
for example, we exported 160,000 tons of apples to Egypt. This year
proved more difficult due to the currency–related issues. We are now
hoping for a good 2023. We met many customers at the trade fair and
would also like to expand our exports to other African countries and the
Middle East.”
Agnieszka Dywan, Polish Fruit Growers Association
“We had not expected such a big trade fair. Food Africa was a great
opportunity to do business on the Arab and Egyptian markets. We will
definitely repeat our participation next year.”
Eli Martin Chávez Vildoso, International Director Petruz Fruity
Press Team Processing & Packaging Portfolio
Messe Düsseldorf GmbH
Cornelia Tautenhahn (Senior Manager Press & PR)
Apostolos Hatzigiannidis (Manager Press & PR)
Tel.: +49 (0) 211/4560–588/–544
Fax: +49 (0) 211/4560–8548
Email: TautenhahnC@messe–duesseldorf.de
HatzigiannidisA@messe–duesseldorf.de
About the interpack alliance
The interpack alliance covers Messe Düsseldorf events within the Processing &
Packaging portfolio. Exhibitors and visitors can recognise the relevant trade fairs by
the umbrella brand logo, which is based on the equivalent trade fair, interpack, the
world’s most important event for the packaging industry and the related processing
sector. The interpack alliance includes the flagship trade fair of the same name as
well as swop (shanghai World of Packaging), pacprocess India and food pex India
(Mumbai, Neu–Delhi), pacprocess MEA and Food Africa (Cairo), components
(Düsseldorf) as well as indopack (Jakarta). The interpack alliance targets important
growth markets, focusing on food and beverages, confectionery and baked goods,
pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, non–food consumer goods and industrial goods – with
the relevant emphasis at each event.
About IFP EGYPT
IFP Egypt forms part of the IFP Group, one of the most well–known organisers in
the Middle East, and looks back on over 35 years of experience as well as more
than 480 globally recognized, international trade fairs. The IFP Group organises
some of the leading trade fairs in the region, which are ideal platforms for both
international and local companies operating in the Middle East and Africa to
introduce themselves to important buyers as well as decision–makers from the
region.
About KONZEPT
Konzept is a Cairo–based exhibition & event management firm and operates in over
15 countries around the globe. Konzept looks back on over 20 years of experience
and specialises in top–class marketing, networking and information solutions for
high–end sectors both on mature and threshold markets. Our complete service
package comprises the organisation, logistics and integrated marketing & PR
campaigns for individual exhibitors, country participations as well as corporate
events and conferences.
