The first edition of the virtual event for the food ingredients industry, Fi Europe CONNECT (23 November - 4 December), saw more than 10,300 active participants, 272 exhibitors and 200 online presentations and live sessions.
With themed content sessions each day such as ‘Active & Performance Nutrition’, ‘Plant-based’ and ‘Health & Wellness’, the agenda focused on the topics currently driving the industry. For 2021, organiser Informa Markets is planning a hybrid event combining a face-to-face show in Frankfurt with a virtual offering.
The online event aimed to make networking and lead generation easy for attendees. Between the 131 countries represented, more than 15,400 connections, 6,300 conversations and over 8,800 meetings happened over the course of the 11 days.
Michroma and Enzymit were named winners in the Startup Innovation Challenge year’s challenge, are active in the field of fermented and lab-grown ingredients.
Technologies and ingredients relating to clean label, sustainability and plant-based alternatives also dominated the exhibitor profiles. Fumi Ingredients presented an egg-free egg white, while Sufresca, also a winner of the Startup Innovation Challenge, offers edible coatings for fruit and vegetables.
Functional ingredients for intestinal health, personalised nutrition and immunity played a major role - a result of the pandemic, as revealed by contributors from Innova Market Insights, Mintel, FMCG Gurus, and New Nutrition Business in panel discussions and presentations.
Around one third of the visitors worked in R&D and product development, 64% had budget authority and were responsible for purchasing in their company, and approximately 30% were in C-level senior management.
Brand Director Julien Bonvallet said: “The year 2020 was a challenge, especially for the exhibition and event industry. Although we have been well-positioned digitally, the face-to-face meetings remain at the heart of our portfolio. My team and I worked tirelessly to make Fi Europe CONNECT an international and vibrant platform. That's why it’s great to know that this virtual show and our agenda of expert talks, panel discussions and live sessions were so well received. Virtual events are proving to be a strong channel to reach new and wider audiences, as well as an excellent vehicle for brand awareness and thought leadership.”
