Following the success of Food Africa and pacprocess MEA last year, concrete plans to expand this year’s duo of trade fairs have begun. Here, exhibiting companies can expand their contacts in Africa and the Arab region in a targeted manner.
Food Africa, Africa’s leading trade fair for the food industry, will take place together with pacprocess MEA again in 2023 in Cairo, Egypt. In the past few years, both events have developed into hot spots for the entire food industry of the African continent and the MEA region. pacprocess MEA additionally addresses all fields of application in the packaging and the related processing industry. Both events will be held from 12 to 14 December at the Egypt International Exhibition Center (EIEC) and are organised by Messe Düsseldorf together with its partners IFP Egypt and Konzept under the umbrella of the interpack alliance.
Eight months before its kick-off, the trade fair duo is already making very good progress. For instance, the total area of Food Africa has been expanded from three to four halls. This means that an exhibition area of approximately 40,000 square metres is available overall. “The decision to expand the trade fair by an entire additional hall is our response to appropriately meet the demand and also creates opportunities for additional formats and special exhibitions”, says Thomas Dohse, Director of the interpack alliance. In the past year, a total of 25,821 visitors from over 72 countries attended both trade fairs. “The exhibitors also expect a dynamic growth environment, driven by a strong domestic demand and export potential in 2023”, Dohse continues.
Egypt as an important actor on the global market
Looking back on the past seven years shows the huge development of the Egyptian food industry. The number of companies more than tripled in this time period. Factories were continuously modernised and a total of 16.3 billion euros was invested in the food industry. Thus, the Egyptian market for food and beverages generated 4.1 billion dollars in the past year and constituted 14 percent of the country’s total exports. These figures show that the future of the Egyptian food and beverage market is promising.
Food Africa is the industry’s leading trade fair
Building on its long-standing presence in the African food and beverage industry, Food Africa has developed into the most important event for decision-makers from all over the world to harness the business potential of Egypt, Africa and the MENA region. Here, exhibiting companies meet local, regional and international wholesalers, distributors and retailers.
Exhibitors and visitors of Food Africa profit from further benefits here: The hosted buyers programme brokers relevant contacts and enables planning security and thus contract conclusions directly on site, which gives exhibitors the opportunity to expand their business. Another important part of Food Africa is the specialist conference that brings together international experts to discuss various topics in agriculture and food science. At the Live Cooking Show supported by the Egyptian Chefs Association, local and international cooks will prepare unique recipes. The Barista Show is a prestigious contest that coffee experts shouldn’t miss.
pacprocess MEA unlocks potential
pacprocess MEA is also highly anticipated, and will again showcase a wide range of packaging materials, processing and packaging technologies as well as solutions for automation and digitalisation. In addition to benefiting from the strong food industry in Egypt, the exhibiting companies are also operating in the environment of a strong consumer market with more than 100 million inhabitants, which offers a huge potential for consumer goods manufacturers. The Egyptian packaging, printing and processing industry has reported considerable growth in the last few years. For example, printing and packaging exports increased by 37 percent in the first half of 2022. The Egyptian printing and packaging market is also expected to expand with a forecast yearly growth rate of 4.1 percent between 2021 and 2025.
pacprocess MEA also supports business on site with a hosted buyers programme that facilitates worldwide networking between exhibitors and professional buyers as well as a specialist conference that brings together international experts from the packaging and processing sector.
www.pacprocess-mea.com bzw. www.foodafrica-expo.com
About the interpack alliance
The interpack alliance is comprised of Messe Düsseldorf events that are part of the Processing & Packaging portfolio. In addition to the eponymous flagship trade fair interpack in Düsseldorf, swop (Shanghai World of Packaging), pacprocess India and food pex India (Mumbai, New Delhi), pacprocess MEA and Food Africa (Cairo), components (Düsseldorf) and indopack (Jakarta) are all part of the interpack alliance. In important growth markets, the interpack alliance addresses the target groups of food, beverages, confectionery and baked goods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, non-food consumer goods and industrial goods, with different focuses depending on the event.
About IFP EGYPT
IFP Egypt is part of the IFP Group, one of the best known organisers in the Middle East, and can look back on over 35 years of experience and more than 480 internationally recognised trade fairs. The IFP Group hosts some of the region’s leading trade shows, which are ideal platforms for international and domestic companies doing business in the Middle East and Africa to introduce themselves to key buyers and decision-makers in the region.
About KONZEPT
Konzept is an exhibition & event management company based in Cairo that is active in more than 15 countries around the world. Konzept has more than 20 years of experience and specialises in first-class marketing, network and information solutions for upmarket industries in both mature and emerging markets. Our complete service package includes organisation, logistics and integrated marketing & PR campaigns for individual exhibitors, country participations and corporate events & conferences.
