Consumers invest deeply in brands and products which capture and reflect their own personal values. Traditional, craft and artisan food products typically have a brand built around regional sourcing and production with an implicit focus on sustainability. The reality is that in many cases small businesses face significant challenges in achieving the desired environmental performances.

This event aimed to provide participants with the access to the latest thinking on creating sustainable food businesses and access to important innovative technologies. In addition to presentation and case studies, participants were also able to participate in bespoke technology demonstrations arranged as part of the brokerage event.

As the leading global trade fair, Anuga FoodTec is one of the most important driving force of the international food and beverage industry. The organisers claim that,

“It is the only trade fair in the world that covers all aspects of food production. Whether machines or systems, packaging material and analytics, ingredients or services - the industry present their innovations and technological visions at Anuga FoodTec. It offers all solutions for all food industries - in a concentrated and targeted manner!”

It was for this reason that TRADEIT located one of its brokerage events at this important exhibition and conference. The exhibitors presented a vast range of solutions to energy, water and food resources issues; these had emerged as important inhibitors to growth when we surveyed SME at the beginning of the TRADEIT project.

In addition to a range of highly focused presentations from experts in the field, SMEs has free access to the exhibition and conference. ILU, as event organisers, arranged a series of exhibitions and meets with exhibitors for the brokerage event participants. Some demonstrations were sector specific; others were cross-sectoral, for example:

By aligning and locating the brokerage event at a major exhibition, we were able to secure not just an impressive range of speakers, but also able to expose SMEs to a very extensive range of technologies that had something to offer businesses of all sizes and interests.