Press Release

ANUGA 2023 EXCEEDS ALL EXPECTATIONS AND UNDERLINES ITS POSITION AS THE NUMBER ONE GLOBAL FOOD AND BEVERAGE TRADE FAIR

The key theme “Sustainable Growth” placed the focus on sustainable industry solutions.

Anuga, the world’s largest and most important trade fair for food and beverages, is the undisputed leader and demonstrated over the course of five days that it is the place-to-be for the industry.The following figures reflect the strong participation: Boasting around 140,000 trade visitors from 200 countries and approx. 7,900 exhibitors from 118 countries the leading global trade fair exceeded all expectations. The share of foreign exhibitors was 94 percent and at 80 percent there was a record share of foreign visitors. This makes Anuga more international than ever and confirms its ongoing success as the number one global food trade fair. “Over the decades, Anuga has established itself as the undisputed number one event. And the current edition is proof of our quality and relevance in a rapidly developing sector. We are proud to unite and strengthen the global food and beverage community under the flag of Anuga,” Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse GmbH, emphasised.

Under the key theme “Sustainable Growth“, this year’s Anuga primarily focused on the themes sustainability and a responsible use of resources. From the optimisation of the supply chains through to fair food production, experts from all over the globe presented an impressive variety of approaches. This emphasised the industry’s clear commitment to a sustainable development and readiness to face global challenges.

“As the world’s largest trade fair for food and beverages, Anuga 2023 set an important signal for the future of the food industry. As such, it is promoting both the dialogue and collaboration between companies, organisations, the industry, science and politics to jointly shape a sustainable and liveable future,” Gerald Böse added.

Björn Fromm, President of the German Association of the Retail Grocery Trade (BVLH) added: “Anuga has bounced back impressively and proven that it is quite rightly the leading global trade fair for the food industry. Anyone, who follows the diversified supporting programme attentively and examines the many innovations, can see that the trade fair also sets the theme trends. “Sustainable Growth”, the central theme of Anuga 2023, was practically tangible in every hall. In my capacity as President of the BVLH, I am delighted, as co-organisers, to further develop Anuga and in this way contribute towards further expanding its leading role among the world’s food trade fairs.”

With a diversified event and congress programme and the Anuga Horizon Conference, this year the trade fair set more new impulses for the food industry of tomorrow than ever before. Expert panels were staged that addressed the most important industry issues, as well as side events by organisations like EIT Food and UNIDO, which offered additional perspectives and solutions. Furthermore, as a provider of knowledge and know-how, Anuga presented new and ongoing trends.

High quality of the visitors
The exhibitors particularly praised the high quality of the trade visitors. The who’s who from the trade and food service sector attended the leading global trade fair in Cologne. All of the relevant players from the most important food retailers were represented: Amazon, Aeon Co, Aldi, Auchan, Carrefour, Coop, Cosco Wholesale, Colruyt Group, Lidl & Kaufland, Metro, Mercadona, Migros, Rewe, Spar and Walmart. The highest numbers of visitors from European countries were registered from Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey. Beyond Europe, the most well-represented nations included Brazil, China, Japan, Korea and the USA.

Shaping the future with Anuga HORIZON
Anuga HORIZON was staged as a conference for the first time this year. International industry experts, pioneers and decision-makers came together to exchange their knowledge and experience. In the course of inspiring lectures and panel discussions the industry’s latest trends, challenges and solutions were addressed.

Ethan Brown, CEO of Beyond Meat, stated positively about Anuga HORIZON: “It was great to be stood in front of such a progressive audience at the Anuga HORIZON Conference and engage in a direct exchange with German and European consumers. They play a pioneering role in the transition over to plant-based meat alternatives and a vegetarian diet, which is of decisive importance for our planet.”

“Anuga HORIZON proved to be an outstanding platform for in-depth discourse, far beyond superficial small talk. A host of perspectives came together here, supported by an impressive diversity and global reach. This event was vibrant with positive energy and the joint incentive for innovation,” commented Richie Gray, Vice President and Global Head Snack Futures from Mondeléz International.

“weareAnuga” campaign strengthens the trade fair community
In an era where the food world is becoming increasingly more global and sustainability and healthy food more and more important, Anuga promotes the exchange between people from different cultures, industries and areas of interest – not only in Cologne – but also at the satellite events held worldwide. This solidarity was also reflected by the “#weareAnuga” campaign, which was launched at the 2023 edition. The leading global trade fair went viral across the social media and achieved 2.5 million hits over the entire duration of the trade fair.

Anuga in figures:
7,850 companies from 118 countries took part in Anuga 2023 on exhibition space covering 300,000 m². The share of foreign exhibitors was 94 percent. Around 140,000 trade visitors from 200 countries attended Anuga 2023, the foreign share was 80 percent.

The next Anuga will take place from 4 to 8 October 2025

Cologne, October 2023

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