Vitafoods Europe Sees Record AttendanceVitafoods Europe Sees Record Attendance

GENEVAThis year's Vitafoods Europe had a record attendance of 11,594 attendees when it took place from May 22 to 24 at Palexpo, Geneva. Vitafoods Europe's 15th anniversary event, co-located with Finished Products Expo (FPE), featured more than 600 companies with 140 companies featured at FPE.

 The nutraceuticals industry is enjoying a successful period of growth, amid all the regulation issues, and this has been reflected in the record attendance at Vitafoods Europe and FPE," said Chris Lee, Vitafoods portfolio director. "We were delighted to be able to host such a buzzing show, and facilitate introductions between exhibitors and visitors. We look forward to learning about how these business leads materialize over the coming months."

New for 2012, the poster sessions gave researchers an opportunity to share their projects with other potential collaborators, researchers, and commercial partners or investors. The sessions covered topics including the effect of short cationic homopeptides on antibacterial activity; the freedom to enjoy dairy among the lactose intolerant and the preclinical evidence for Diabecine, a herbal supplement for managing diabetes. The New Products Zone, sponsored by Now International, again gave visitors a chance to witness a host of the latest products to be launched in the industry. Other Vitafoods Europe visitor attractions that drew considerable attention included the Seminar Theatre, the EAS Advisory Sessions, Mintels Products, Ingredients and Consumer Insights Pavilion and VitaTrend, by Innova Market Insights.   

Away from the show floor, Vitafoods Europe also hosted its annual scientific conference, with a panel of speakers that included scientists and commercial experts from the industry. The session on Functional Foods and Consumer Trends chaired by S.P. Sergio Pumarola, general manager at BIOGLANE, S.L.N.E. and featuring Lynn Dornblaser, director of CPG Insight from Mintel Group Ltd, attracted interest from delegates as the panel examined consumer attitudes towards health and wellness in general, specific understanding about functional foods and the issue of marketing functional foods to consumers.

Also popular among attendees was the Health Claims and Regulation presentation, chaired by Paul Berryman, Ph.D., from Leatherhead Food Research and featuring Inga Koehler, a senior consultant at analyze & realize. Examining the scientific assessment on health claims, the session focused in particular on what can be expected for 2012, the situation with botanical claims and an analysis of EFSA opinions.

The EAS Discussion Forum delved into the opportunities for innovation beyond claims, providing insights into current thinking on the key regulatory aspects that will affect the sector's innovative capacity within the next five years.

FPE  hosted a Tasting Bar, which offered visitors the opportunity to sample the latest innovations in the functional food and drinks market and vote on the best product in each category. The Tasting Bar Awards were announced at the end of each day with FrieslandCampina CreamyCreation and Olimp Laboratories scooping the prizes in the functional drinks categories for their RTD low calorie drink and Green Tea + Magnesium + Vit C respectively. Meanwhile, Balarama, was successful in the functional food category with its Goji berries & pomegranate superfruit" bar, along with SLIMPACKs High Protein Crackers and SAI Nutrition for their chocolate and hazelnut flavor diet spread.

Plans are already under way for the next shows in the worldwide Vitafoods portfolio: