14 Oct Anuga 2021: the top innovations at world’s biggest food fair
Remarkably for the times, the international food and drinks industry once again have met up at Anuga in Cologne, in person and virtually, from 9 – 13 October 2021. Here are the top innovations from the expo.
Under the key theme “Transform”, over five days more than 4,600 exhibitors from 97 countries presented a variety of products in 10 trade shows.
To uncover and honour innovation, the Anuga taste Innovation Show takes on a key function as a trend barometer for the global food business. Selected by a jury of international trade journalists and market research analysts, the most important new products of Anuga are in a separate exhibition.
In total, over 418 companies submitted over 1,332 products for inclusion in taste. The jury selected 67 products and concepts from among these, but in addition, these ten products were distinguished as being especially innovative:
- Dried salmon – Jerky Chips by Royal Nordic (Latvia)
- Ready to Eat – Beet Root Tots by Frostkrone (Germany)
- Aztek Lager by IMAG Organics (Mexico)
- THE COOLIVES by Aceitunas Torrent (Spain) [Pictured above]
- 12 Scallops on Crispy Crackers by Escal (France)
- Frozen Pesto Drops by Il Pesto di Pra’ srl (Italy)
- Safran Sosse – Sugosi I Prestigiosi by Surgital (Italy)
- Compostable Coffee Capsules by Café Sati (France)
- Lotao Green Jackfruit Veggie Balls by Lotao (Germany)
- Happy Veggies – Beetroobee by Finest Selection Kft. (Hungary)
This year’s new products, say the organisers, Koelnmesse, are characterised by sustainability, health and convenience. Plant-based and plant-only foodstuffs are an ongoing theme, while alternative meat proteins form a second main trend, along with additional health benefits, and clean labelling.
More about Anuga 2021
“We are delighted with this result. It underlines the global significance of Anuga and the trust that is placed in us as a trade fair organisation. Furthermore, it also shows that Germany as a trade fair location continues to hold a leading and attractive position in terms of the global competition,” explained Gerald Böse, President and CEO of Koelnmesse.
“Also the hybrid approach worked very well and proved very popular. In the scope of Anuga @home, we were able to offer above all those people, who were not able to travel to the trade fair, a good opportunity to inform themselves about specialised themes and engage in intensive networking,” Böse added.
As a hybrid event, Anuga also offered a digital platform for the exhibitors, visitors and media representatives: Anuga @home. In addition to intensive networking, the digitally streamed event and congress programme comprised a variety of lectures, discussions and presentations by renowned trade experts and companies of the food industry.
In total, 353 formats with more than 6,380 broadcasting minutes were streamed over the three days of the trade fair. Particularly the live streams of the two conferences, the Newtrition X and the New Food Conference, were very popular. The presentations and the networking offers of Anuga @home will also be available on-demand after the trade fair.
Anuga also set a benchmark in terms of its level of internationality in these post-Corona times: 97 percent of the exhibitors came from abroad. At 76 percent, the degree of internationality of the visitors remained at a constant level (2019: 75 percent).
“People from 169 nations – that is a strong signal and shows at the same time how much the international food industry needs trade fairs to do business again. Our exhibitors, who reported about outstanding customer dialogues and the high quality of the trade visitors, also recognised this fact.
“The discussions with the buyers also confirmed how highly they estimate the time for intense, personal dialogues with their customers. Anuga 2021 simply made the international world of food personal again. And this euphoria and spirit of optimism was noticeable all over the trade fair,” emphasised Oliver Frese, COO of Koelnmesse.
Anuga in figures:
4,643 companies from 98 countries took part in Anuga 2021 on exhibition space covering 244,400 m². These included 400 exhibitors from Germany and 4,243 exhibitors from abroad. The share of foreign exhibitors was 92 percent. More than 70,000 trade visitors from 169 countries attended Anuga 2021, the foreign share was 76 percent.