It’s a challenging time for the UK’s retail industry: the economy has faltered, and consequently consumer spending has decreased to an all-time low. It’s little wonder there’s an air of unease in the food industry.
Now’s the time when everyone needs to focus on innovation in order to differentiate themselves from the competition. However, it’s crucial that businesses aren’t too cautious when it comes to investing their time and money. Decisions on spend shouldn’t be made on the initial financial outlay, but on the return on investment they can deliver.
The organisers behind the UK’s largest and most respected food trade event are committed to ensuring that this year’s event (15-18 March, Excel, London) will be a true showcase of unrivalled, groundbreaking innovation.
But how do they plan to deliver it? What exactly will make IFE09 any different from any other food and drink trade show or indeed any of the past IFE events? Not content with the show’s reputation for trend analysis, thought leadership, networking and practical demonstrations, the team has come up with a plan that has already attracted a host of the UK’s leading food and drink industry players to ‘put their hands in their pockets’.
The event’s primary visitor attraction, Innovation Live (in association with Mintel) underscores the raison d’etre of IFE09. Occupying 500 square metres, the experience will showcase the world’s most groundbreaking, yet practical and previously unseen products. Mintel’s Global New Product Development Team will source the products from across the globe rather than from exhibiting companies, providing a slice of the world’s most innovative products and a unique feature not seen at any other event.
There’ll be four main product categories making up Innovation Live: general food, drinks, chilled and frozen, and health and well-being. Between eight and 12 products will appear within each category, with a full accompanying commentary, including Mintel’s innovation rating, product description, distribution details, brand information, pricing and ingredients.
The products showcased by exhibitors at IFE09 are independent of those selected by the Mintel team, but this doesn’t make them any less innovative. A large number of companies have already signed up, promising new product launches. And with innovation the name of the game at this year’s show, there’s a lot of creativity to shout about.
One company that’s excelled in this area recently is Inside Out Beauty, with its original skin drink, Sip. 100% natural, Sip is flavoured and sweetened with only fruit, and doesn’t contain any added sugar or preservatives. The drink offers consumers the intrinsic hydrating benefits of water with skin-friendly ingredients such as antioxidants vitamin C, selenium, white tea tincture, rose petal and sweet violet botanicals.
Another drinks company also making a splash at IFE09 will be Luscombe Organic Drinks. The unique blueberry & cranberry juices with agave syrup and Damascan rose water have a low glycemic index, making them suitable for diabetics. The company’s Carrot and Sicilian Orange Juice made from organic fruit and vegetables, will also be highlighted on stand N1600.
Joining Luscombe Organic Drinks in the health and well-being category will be Dragonfly Teas. The company’s Tick Tock tea is cured in the same traditional way, as it was when Benjamin Ginsberg founded rooibos. The process takes place in the Cedarberg Mountains of South Africa’s Cape. Although reminiscent of green tea, Tick Tock Green Rooibos Tea is made with 100% rooibos and harnesses all the health benefits of its traditional counterpart. To complement its leading Tick Tock Rooibos Tea, Dragonfly Teas will also be launching Dragonfly rooibos teas, including Vanilla, Mint, Camomile, Breakfast, Earl Grey, Cape Malay Chai and Evening Blend at IFE09.
Also in the drinks category but focusing on children, RDA Organic will be introducing its Kids Sqqquishy and Squeeezy range at this year’s show. Squeeezy Apple, Mango and Orange juice and Sqqquishy Blackcurrant, Apple and Banana Smoothie are pure organic beverages for children. Each drink provides one portion of a child’s daily fruit requirement and their RDA of vitamin C. In line with the entire RDA Organic product range, the fruit used is 100% premium organic grade and certified by the Soil Association.
Cotswold Fayre will launch its Amisa Organic Cheese and Pumpkin Seed bread at IFE09. And following the introduction of its ‘Easy Peel’ Spring Roll Pastry four years ago, Kims Food will launch its spring rolls as a finished product.
The Amazing Food Company will launch five new products at IFE09: a selection of all-natural and gluten-free ketchups, including Peppery Moroccan Ketchup, Mild Curry Ketchup and Orange Chilli Ketchup.
A company that plans to celebrate at the exhibition is Indulgence Patisserie. 21 years after it was first set-up, the manufacturer of premium, private-label and branded desserts will be launching its product offering to the UK and international retail markets for the first time.
Bio-Grape Foods UK will showcase its range of high oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC) foods made with added Bio-Grape, the dark blue colour pigment extracted from the skin and seeds of red wine grapes, which contains more than 600 antioxidants. The company’s Red Wine JUS, pastes and Grape Seed Crackers will all be on show at IFE09.
A new range of flash frozen organic ready meals for children – Okey Dokey 100% Organic – will be the focus of Organic Kids Foods Limited’s stand at the show. The company will also showcase its range of purees that benefit from a special steam valve so they can be safely microwaved.
IFE’s foodservice side accounts for nearly one third of the show. In 2007, the event attracted some of the world’s most senior foodservice representatives from the likes of Avenance, Brakes and Compass, as well as hotel and restaurant visitors from Marriott International, Novotel and Gordon Ramsay Holdings. This year, visitors from this sector of the food industry will be treated to a brand new feature created specifically for them.
The Skillery, run in association with the Craft Guild of Chefs, will feature a live cookery demonstration area incorporating the latest and most innovative new flavour trends, menu designs and innovative cooking styles. Designed to attract chefs, restaurateurs, hoteliers, cost sector caterers and the major foodservice operators, the attraction will be split into three smaller sessions running concurrently for the duration of the show.
One kitchen will be hosted by the Craft Guild of Chefs and will feature a demonstration programme carried out by professional chefs. Based on research by the Guild into current foodservice industry trends, the programme will focus on hot topics of most relevance to visitors and, to avoid the ‘Skillery’ from becoming ‘just another cooking demonstration’, the organisers plan to make it as innovation-led, targeted and relevant to the foodservice visitor demographic as possible. The second kitchen, hosted by the event organisers, Fresh RM, will be dedicated to companies exhibiting, enabling visitors to see featured products brought to life.
The Condiment Company is just one of the foodservice players that’s already signed up to this year’s event. Manufacturers of high quality mayonnaises, sauces and dressings, the company works with its own chefs to provide recipe development, production and filling, labelling, packaging and dispatch.
Joining them is Calder Foods (Manufacturing) Ltd. The company’s range of more than 100 standard and bespoke sandwich fillings for the catering industry will also be on show.
Bisioprogetti Spa will be introduce its new turn and grate cheese grater for extra hard, hard and semi-hard cheese, which enables the user to obtain grated powder, shreds, wafers, shaves or petals of cheese.
DeliSante, a premium quality chilled food and drink brand will exhibit its range of savoury baked goods, organic smoothies, ready meals and salads, as well as chilled products. Cook Trading Ltd will also introduce its range of more than 70 frozen meals.
This year, however, it’s not just the retail and foodservice audience that will benefit from visiting IFE. For the second year in a row, IFE will be joined by food and drink processing and packaging show Pro2Pac, which will take place in an adjacent hall at Excel.
Organised for the first time by Reed Exhibitions, the event will build on the inaugural 2007 show, highlighting the latest ideas, equipment, light machinery, systems, technology, services and materials relevant to the food and drink industry, especially brand owners and manufacturers.
New for this year’s show, Packaging Innovation @ Pro2Pac is a series of free seminars sponsored by Wrap, which will form one of the central visitor attractions at the exhibition. Featuring contributions from brand owners, major retailers, and industry experts, the seminars will address hot topics relating to global food and drink packaging trends. A combination of keynote addresses, short seminars and industry debates will provide useful and practical business advice for food and drink industry professionals.
IFE09 is set to attract more than 1,300 food and drink suppliers, including approximately 600 from outside the UK, all bringing a host of the world’s most innovative and new products. By attracting the right mix of visitors and exhibitors, the event looks set to continue its reign as the leading UK food and drink trade show for many years to come. Whether you work in retail, foodservice, wholesale and distribution or manufacturing, IFE is the largest event of its kind in the UK and it shouldn’t be missed.
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