Most exhibitors and visitors told NutraIngredients the show had been one of the best for business, even if traffic slowed somewhat on the third and final day, as tends to be the case.
“Vitafoods Europe continues to play an important role in the development of the nutraceutical industry, by providing both a platform for business and through the valuable educational content available to visitors through our visitor attractions and the Vitafoods Europe Conference,” said Vitafoods Portfolio Director, Chris Lee, in a statement.
“…There was a real buzz on the show floor, which we believe is as a result of the significant investment we have made to help visitors and exhibitors connect.”
Multinational; multi-learning; mega-networking
This year 15,627 visitors from around Europe and the globe attended the show to view new product trends, research new ingredients and marketing strategies, develop new business or consolidate existing partnerships.
Multiple seminars were spread over a paid-for conference (65 presentations across multiple streams) and free show floor seminars on topics as diverse as Asian market trends and European novel foods law changes.
“We've been coming to the show for many consecutive years and we come here to get new leads as well as catch up with our existing customers,” said Andie Long, marketing and sales executive at Swedish-Japanese astaxanthin supplier AstraReal-Fuji Chemical Company.
“We operate globally and the show is an opportunity to meet people from the across the world in one place.”
Melissa Fernandes, business development manager at Portuguese algae extracts specialist, Allma said: “The show was great, we've been very busy. The type of visitors that have come to our stand were the sort of companies we would look to target. Vitafoods Europe would have to be the main fair for our type of product.”
At the end-product level, Eric Graves, international marketing director at Utah-based food supplements firm Nature's Sunshine said: “We attended to find distributors as we're expanding in the European market. We've had quality leads and have meetings set up for later.”
Co-located with Vitafoods Europe, Finished Products Europe 2015 featured more than 200 international exhibitors featuring the likes of protein bars, multivitamins, cognitive health products and probiotic drinks.
There High Protein Chips by Laboratoire PYC, Best Tasting Functional Food and ProViva50 by Probi AB, Best Tasting Functional Beverage.
Show speaker David Jago, director of innovation and insight at market analyst Mintel, said of the event:“Vitafoods is the show for this type of business, for the nutraceutical industry, and the conference is a must attend for anything health and nutrition focused.”
The NutraIngredients Awards were also co-located at Vitafoods Europe for the first time.