Torchbearers of the Indian Food & Beverage industry congregated at “Partners Forum” to define the roadmap for India’s largest gathering of the Food & Beverage Industry this September

Koelnmesse India YA Trade Fairs organised a Partners Forum in appreciation of the persistent support received from the leading Food & Beverage Associations to define a road-map for the upcoming 15th edition of Annapoorna – ANUFOOD India and 16th edition of ANUTEC – International FoodTec India, all set to be the largest gathering of food & beverage industry in India for the year 2022.

Milind Dixit, Managing Director, Koelnmesse India YA Trade Fairs, set the tone for the evening by sharing the trade show’s spectacular progress so far, providing a glimpse of concurrent events that promise to enhance the overall experience of all the stakeholders.

The forum was well attended by the President, Committee Members from leading Industry associations -Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), All India Food Processors Association (AIFPA), Association of Food Scientist & Technologist of India (AFSTI – Mumbai), Chamber for Advancement of Small and Medium Businesses (CASMB), Indian Flexible Packaging & Folding Carton Manufacturers Association (IFCA), Hospitality Purchasing Managers Forum (HPMF), Western India Culinary Association (WICA) and Retailers Association of India (RAI) who play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the industry.

The star-studded industry thought leaders forum was filled with great conversations and exchanges of brilliant ideas to address the current prevailing issues related to India’s food & beverage industry. The forum not only discussed the industry challenges but creative ways to address those issues, agreeing on multi-level collaboration from all the stakeholders. At Anutec, a few of these solutions – food wastage, the nutritional value of food, policy makers’ involvement – will be presented through a series of seminars, and workshops to a broader audience, thus making the conversations more engaging and wider in scope.

Dr. Subodh Jindal, President, AIFPA, expressed his thoughts about the importance of ANUFOOD and Anutec to the food industry. Dr. Jindal also shared the theme of the AIFPA National Seminar on “Sustainability of Food Industry – Challenges &Opportunities” scheduled on 15th September 2022 at ANUTEC India. He further encouraged Koelnmesse India to organise similar events in other regions of the country. Dr. Prabodh Halde, President, AIFPA (Mumbai Chapter), emphasized increasing the participation of the younger generation to such events. According to him, such large gatherings are fertile grounds to attract and nurture young talent. This can be achieved through multiple initiatives such as collaborating with colleges, specially curated networking sessions between industry leaders and youngsters, and many more.

Nitin Nagrale, Founder and General Secretary – HPMF, put forward his thoughts on enhancing the brand value of the event by making it interactive. HPMF will be hosting Buyers Delegation from Maharashtra, and International delegation from Nepal, Bhutan. Furthermore, the association will host a session on “Market Penetration Strategy”.

Subhaprada Nishtala, President of AFSTI (Mumbai), stressed on greater collaboration of industry and academia and exhibiting presence from the government and export promotion councils. AFSTI Mumbai Chapter will be organizing a seminar on “The New Food Economy,” which will throw light on emerging technologies. One of them is AI, emerging regulations that are expected to have a profound effect on the food manufacturing sector. Chinamayee Deulgaonkar, Managing Director, FoodChain ID India, insisted on participation from rural India.

Nilesh Lele, President, CASMB, spoke about strengthening government tie-ups and organising a session

with the Quality Council of India to highlight the quality aspects of food products. He believes trade shows are a good platform to spread awareness about the schemes extended by MSME to support SMEs in doing business globally. He further congratulated ANUTEC for getting approval from the MSME ministry supporting SMEs to participate in the event. Umesh Kamble, General Secretary, CASMB stressed on the start-up funding activities – Fund Quest being organised by them.

Chandrasekhar Rajagopalan, President, IFCA, happily shared the association’s plan to host “IFCA Star Awards “concurrent to the show, thus strengthening the relationship between the two entities. The gala ceremony is scheduled on 15 September 2022. Further, he insisted on involving the industry thought leaders from the FMCG industry as speakers.

Chef Sudhir Pai, Treasurer, WICA, appreciated the forum and stated the importance of showcasing local and global market trends. WICA will conduct a Masterclass on Plant Based Cuisines, European Cuisines, and Asian Cuisines. Besides, WICA will invite the chefs to explore the wide range of food products and technology displayed at the event.

Dr. Hitesh Bhatt, Director – Marketing & Communications, RAI, is involved in curating an interactive panel discussion aimed at the purchase managers from the retail food and beverage industry. Dr. Bhatt stressed upon spreading awareness about food wastage and food safety.

Balvinder Singh Sawhney, Assistant Secretary General, FICCI, briefed on the active participation of state pavilions from Orissa, Karnataka, Kerala and Goa. He expressed his gratitude to the forum and apprised the delegates on government initiatives for MSME and women empowerment.

The dignitaries’ enthusiasm and deliberation quality are a solid testament to the significance of both Annapoorna ANUFOOD India & ANUTEC International FoodTec India in the overall industry landscape.

About Koelnmesse

Koelnmesse is an International leader in organising trade fairs in food and beverage processing. Anuga FoodTec and ProSweets Cologne are established, world-leading trade fairs hosted in Cologne/Germany. In addition to the events at its Cologne headquarters, Koelnmesse also stages further food technology trade fairs with different sector-specific areas of focus and content in key markets worldwide, including India, Italy and Colombia. These global activities enable Koelnmesse to offer its customers bespoke events and leading regional trade fairs in various markets, thus creating the foundation for sustainable International business. Koelnmesse is also ideally positioned in the field of food and beverages with its leading International trade fairs Anuga and ISM, and its global network of satellite events.

Further information is available at: https://www.anugafoodtec.com/trade-fair/industry-trade-fairs/