The markets are currently experiencing trends that are stimulating new business opportunities that demand a bespoke occasion for in-depth analysis and discussions for professional operators in the sectors involved.
Among the emerging trends: the growing attention towards organic and free-from products for people with food intolerances, the issue of traceability and Blockchain, which enables the traceability of the entire production process from shopping trolley all the way back to the producers of the raw materials used; the growing variety of health-related products on offer, mass catering, which through company choice or respect for directives, is increasingly turning towards products from the organic production chain and, to conclude, the greater presence on the shelves of the distribution channels of healthy snacks and ready meals, a phenomenon that correlates to the progressive reconfiguration of the concept of dinner and meals in general.
Highly contemporary issues that BolognaFiere will highlight at a new fair, to support the now consolidated exhibition MarcabyBolognaFiere and that will offer opportunities for in-depth study and a showcase for the wide array of innovative solutions that the market offers.
A Fair that is the result of the long-standing collaboration with ADM (the Italian Association for the Grocery Retail sector) and the specific know-how of BolognaFiere in the organic sector, which has generated a new synergy between two international reference fairs hosted at the Bologna Exhibition Centre: SANA, the International Exhibition of Organic and Natural Products, which began more than 30 years ago, and MarcabyBolognaFiere, the Private Label Conference and Exhibition, now approaching its 16th edition.
The new initiative will be an innovative “Satellite Fair” in which the latest market trends will be explored in Focus sessions for professional operators through a brand new formula in which the exhibition and cultural content will be expressed in a highly flexible way.
Organic, free-from, traceability and mass catering are among the key topics that the Fair will explore, on 15 and 16 January 2020, during the same days as MarcabyBolognaFiere, amplifying the business opportunities and potential for creating synergies. The initiative will take place in pavilion 28, which has recently been completed as part of the development and restyling plan at the Bologna Exhibition Centre that, thanks to a total investment of over 130 million euros, will increase the exhibition space by 30% on completion of the project in 2024, further reinforcing BolognaFiere’s leadership position.
SANA UP will be the space in which to provide visibility to the most innovative products in the organic sector; the most recent edition of SANA, which concluded successfully in September, highlighted with even greater emphasis, on one hand, the success of organic products, theBolognaFiere spa dynamism of the sector and the constant search for new distribution channels, and on the other, the interest of the large grocery retail groups in this production chain that, in just five years, has seen its revenues double. SANA UP therefore promises to serve as a showcase to preview the latest innovations from the world of organic products and to facilitate contact between producers in this sector (food and non-food) and representatives of the large grocery retail groups and other sales channels, which participate each year at MarcabyBolognaFiere.
For the participating companies, SANA UP will serve as a priority lane, enabling them to present their new products in the organic sector, which consumers are now turning to in ever greater numbers. Business opportunities in foreign markets will be supported by the presence in Bologna of delegations of foreign buyers and a series of initiatives aimed at examining the market scenarios in greater depth. These will include an important convention organised by BolognaFiere and ADM in collaboration with FederBio and AssioBio which will examine the topic of the diffusion of organic products in grocery retail, with interventions from some of the leading players.
The lead up to SANA UP will begin in November 2019 with a training event designed to illustrate to professional operators in the organic sector the best strategies for approaching, and developing business with, grocery retail players.
With a closer look at the specific market for sufferers of food intolerances and the growing selection of product ranges, a special focus session is scheduled on free-from products, involving the leading associations for this market.
Another topic of significant interest for both consumers and producers is that of product traceability. This issue will be examined in its various aspects (technologies, packaging, innovative solutions) and a key role will be played by FederBio Servizi, which will present the intervention strategies of FederBio and AssoBio as well as the experience in the field of digital agriculture and Blockchain for the various production chains in the organic sector. The matter of digitalisation of controls also backed up by Blockchain is now particularly relevant to the field of online sales, which are becoming increasingly important for the grocery retail sector.
The issue of mass catering (company canteens) will be examined as part of a convention that will see contributions from some leading companies in the management of corporate canteens called to discuss the scenario that is seeing a profound change in the standards of mass catering which is choosing to prioritise, with ever greater frequency, options that are healthy and sustainable.
For more information:
Viale della Fiera
Tel. +39 051 282111
Email: bolognafiere@pec.bolognafiere.it
www.bolognafiere.com