Having managed to keep just about all of my appointments with companies I know well, on Thursday I decided to look out for some new names.
I met Stefanie Grasmuck of A&S BioTec Food Ingredients – a company that produces oats, barley and other fibres such as whole grain along with natural colours and proteins for weight management and heart health drinks. (The next issue of Beverage Innovation has the first in a series of ‘Ingredients in action’, with a focus on fibre.)
Then I met Dagmar Balgova on the Frujo stand, which carried an impressive range of fruit and vegetable concentrates from the Czech Republic – being used in innovative dairy spreads, cheeses and drinks.
Chocolate and caramel are some of the company’s best sellers, along with more unusual vegetable blends such as roasted Mediterranean, for cottage cheese.
I photographed a few drinks that caught my eye, such as Andechser Molkerei Bio Lassi containing cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and mango; Madeta Fitness yogurts with cereals and fibre, and a probiotic strawberry yogurt for Meggle.
Export Manager Jaroslav Bacar was most excited about the Jo eco yogurt from Yoplait, which contains no ‘e’ numbers. Other notable comments were that blueberry is the fruit most in demand, and that their aloe vera and cucumber combination contributes to the most original health drink to date.
I dashed along to the packed Sports & Performance Nutrition Conference being held by Bridge2Food at the nearby Meridien just in time to hear about new developments in the Finnish and Netherlands Sports Food Markets, plus a fascinating explanation of integrated protein systems by Tim Lawson of Science in Sports (SIS) followed by Nick Morgan of Lucozade Sport Science Academy on ‘Expert Recommended, Consumer Preferred’ in full marketing flow – a worthwhile diversion from the show.
Back to FIE and just time to tour hall 9.1, which was somewhat quieter than the bustling halls 8 and 9, before the show was over. Another week wouldn’t have been long enough to cover every stand there, but judging by the smiling faces, enough good business has been done, leaving us all feeling a lot cheerier about the year to come.
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