30 Oct 2014 Big names in the mix for IFEA 2014 – Africa’s BIGGEST food & drink event
IFEA 2014 – Africa’s food and drink event, taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg next week (05 – 07 November) will see top South African companies showcasing their finest new products and services. Among them are Unilever Food Solutions, Rhodes Food Group, Ocean Mile, South African Pork, Lynca Meats, Beyers Chocolate, Sir Juice and Karan Beef.
The exhibition aspires to stimulate trade and investment opportunities for Africa and create a platform for existing and start-up brands to showcase their products and services to a local and international audience, says Nick Sarnadas, Food & Hospitality Event Director at Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery, organisers of IFEA in Africa. “IFEA means business to both local and international F&B brands. Key players in the South African food and drink arena view the expoas an ideal value offering to expose their brands to the decision-makers throughout the South African retail, wholesale, distribution, catering and hospitality landscape.”
This year’s exhibition will centre the spotlight on new products and services, in this way promoting Africa and its products to the world, while at the same time creating a gateway for international brands to penetrate the local market.
Other big name local exhibitorsinclude: AR Brands and their new Taysti Mayonnaise offering, Black Mamba, Coco-V Water, Cape Fruit Processors, Chaplon Tea, Etlin International, Flowcrete, iPour Beverage Innovations, Halewood International, Karan Beef, Libstar, Lucky Star, Overhex Wines International, Please Products, Pronto Mama, Simply Garlic, Umkhonto Development Solutions, Wheatees, Zeelandia and the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC), who have come on board to create a platform for small Eastern Cape-based brands such as Berry Nice, Sage Kitchen, Blue Berry Hill, Ocean Vibes, Indyebo Yobusi, No.1 Cereal Brands, Lungisupreme, Tiestamode and Hope Wine Estate. (For the full list of IFEA 2014 exhibitors, please visit www.ifea.co.za.)
Big international names
Joining the myriad local exhibitors and associations will be a number of international companies. Big names like Vion Group (Germany), one of Europe’s largest meat suppliers and a global brand with a £7.8-billion turnover in 2013; Andros Group (France) and their Bonne Maman brand (£1.6-billion turnover in 2013); Vandemoortele (Belgium), one of largest frozen bakery producers in Europe with a £1.3-billion turnover in 2012; Calidad Pascual (Spain), one of Europe’s most important dairy companies which forms part of Corporacion Pascual (£428-million turnover in 2013); and Fripozo (Spain), a huge producer of frozen ready meals. Fripozo (£78-million turnover in 2013) forms part of Grupo Fuertes which carries other leading brands such as El Pozo (£863-million turnover in 2013).
These brands will be showcased within the relevant international pavillions, including Argentina, Belgium, Korea, Singapore, Spain, UK and USA. The French and Poland Embassies will also be exhibiting and representing their countries of origin.
Free seminar
The show is also about education, and in The Hub, a free-to-attend business seminar theatre programme taking place over all three days of the exhibition, speakers and delegates will be giving once-in-a-lifetime advice to attendees on a variety of topics. A number of on-trend topics will be covered by key industry leaders that include insights specialist Maryla Masojada, MD of Trade Intelligence; Christelle Crickmore, Science and Programme Development Manager of SA’s Heart & Stroke Foundation; Judi Sandrock, Co-founder and joint CEO of MEDO (Micro Enterprise and Supplier Development); Verity Smith-Alberts, Marketing Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa for Firmenich; Gareth Pearson, CEO of BMI Research, Giulia Iorio Ndlovu, Consumer & Market Insight Director, Simba/ PepsiCo, and Nazneen Khan, Nutrition, Health and Wellness Manager, Nestlé South Africa; Shawn Henning, Account Director for BMI Research, and Fiona van der Linde, GS1 Standards: Industry Specialist for GS1 South Africa (Consumer Goods Council of SA), amongst others. (For the full programme, visit www.ifea.co.za.)
Register now!
IFEA is free to attend and will add tremendous value to anyone in the F&B industry– simply pre-register at www.ifea.co.za.