The Alimentaria fair, the exhibition dedicated to the food industry at Fira de Barcelona, expects around 100,000 visitors from March 18 to 21, a figure similar to that reached by the Mobile World Congress a few weeks ago. To do this, it will occupy practically the entire Fira Gran Via de l'Hospitalet de Llobregat venue, the organization explained this Tuesday at a press conference.
It is estimated that 25% of the audience will be international, coming from more than 120 countries. In total, there will be the presence of 3,200 exhibiting companies and 900 of them will be foreign. According to those responsible, the economic impact on Barcelona and its metropolitan area will range between 180 and 200 million euros.
Transversalism, internationalization and innovation will be the backbone of the show, which is held every two years. “It will be the most powerful edition so far,” said the president of Alimentaria, Antoni Llorens. “A differentiating fact with other fairs is that we have a wide offer reaching the entire value chain of the food industry,” he argued. This is because since 2018 it has been held together with Hostelco, the fair dedicated to restaurant and hotel equipment. A “union of fairs” that allows the creation of a “unique product in Europe”, according to Pere Taberner, president of Hostelco. Other similar events are more specialized, but in Barcelona companies can find representation of practically all of a very varied sector.
Beyond Spain, Italy will be the country with the most representation with 300 companies. They are followed by Türkiye, China, Hong Kong, Poland, Portugal and Belgium. Although the novelty compared to two years ago is the return of Asian companies, which at that time were still affected by covid restrictions. According to the organization, this will be the most international Alimentaria.
“Alimentaria is an excellent platform to give visibility to Spanish companies,” said María Naranjo, director of the food industry at Icex, a public entity that promotes the internationalization of companies. Mauricio García, director of the Spanish Federation of Food and Beverage Industries, defended that the sector is “fundamental in the fight against depopulated Spain” and that it accounts for 16% of rural GDP.
Alimentaria will have leading companies in the sector such as Unilever, Coca-Cola, Damm, Nestlé and Danone, among others. But it will also have space for around thirty emerging companies. The innovation area of the event will have 219 speakers. Topics such as artificial intelligence, sustainability or consumers' growing concern for health, among others, will be addressed. During Alimentaria, some 300 new developments in this industry will be announced.
