The packaging and food technology fairs receive 5% more visitors
Hispack & FoodTech Barcelona close an edition marked by digitalisation and sustainability
Sustainability and digitalisation in the industry were the pillars of this joint edition of Hispack & FoodTech Barcelona, an edition that closes this afternoon at the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona. These packaging and food technology fairs have shown how healthy these strategic industries of the Spanish economy are by creating a business atmosphere that helped closing commercial agreements and enhanced professional networking.
With over 1,100 direct exhibitors from 30 countries occupying five pavilions of the Gran Via venue, Hispack & FoodTech Barcelona 2018 have offered a comprehensive view of the food production life cycle, from ingredients to machinery and equipment and technology for each phase of the manufacturing process, from packaging and shipping, to logistics and delivery to the point of sale. Moreover, Hispack has shown packaging, processing and logistics solutions for other productive sectors.
Still awaiting the final numbers, Hispack & FoodTech have received around 40,000 visitors, 5% more than the previous edition in 2015. This double fair platform has also increased international presence, with 12% of the visitors being from overseas. More than 1,000 business meetings took place between exhibitors and the buyers invited by the organisation committee through commercial delegations and inverse missions from 15 countries coordinated by AMEC to help boosting exports of Spanish packaging and food technology.
Besides promoting business, Hispack & FoodTech Barcelona have been a major showcase for the latest trends defining the transformation in packaging and food production. In this sense, among the many activities, Hispack held 120 conferences, workshops and conferences featuring 209 speakers. In turn, the highlight of FoodTech was the Barcelona Biofilm Summit with more than 150 international experts in food safety, and several training and debate activities.
The Director of Hispack, Xavier Pascual, said that “the show’s approach to bringing visibility towards the innovation that is transforming the packaging industry, focusing on digitalisation, sustainability, logistics and the user experience of containers and packaging has received a great response from the public.” For Pascual, “The interest that the contents of the fair generated among the visitors proves the strategic role that packaging is playing on all economic sectors.”
In turn, the Director of FoodTech Barcelona, Ricardo Márquez, said that “the quality and variety of the offer, together with large doses of innovation is an example of the way the machinery production for the food industry is digitalising towards 4.0 solutions.” Márquez also highlighted “the high qualitative profile of the visitor with decision-making power that came to the show.”
The next edition of Hispack will take place from 20 to 23 April 2021. In turn, FoodTech Barcelona will embark on a new journey under the name Alimentaria FoodTech, a show that will take place in October 2020 to strengthen its position in the international agenda and provide the most complete offer in the value chain of the agri-food industry.
Barcelona, 11 May 2018