IFFA 2016 sets new records: more exhibitors, more visitors and a higher level of internationality at around 66 percent!
Visitors and exhibitors extremely pleased with the fair IFFA confirmed as the world’s leading trade fair for the sector
IFFA – The No. 1 for the meat industry – closed its doors today after six successful days. Over 63,000 trade visitors from 143 countries attended the world’s leading trade fair for the sector in Frankfurt am Main from 7 to 12 May, an increase of around five percent over the previous event in 2013 (60,509 visitors from 144 countries) whereby special mention must be made of the increased degree of internationality, which rose to a new record level of around 66 percent. Particularly well represented on the visitor side were the Russian Federation, Spain, Poland and Italy. IFFA 2016 also set a new record on the exhibitor side with a total of 1,027 companies taking part (2013: 966). The exhibitors, who came from 51 different countries, presented innovations for the entire meat- processing chain. On 110,000 square metres of exhibition space (gross), as in 2013, they presented new products and technologies for slaughtering, dismembering, processing, packaging and sales.
“Under the motto ‘Meet the Best!’, the entire sector came together here in Frankfurt to discover the latest innovations and tomorrow’s trends. IFFA is and will remain the world’s leading trade fair for the meat industry. This year, it was distinguished by growth in all respects. An extraordinarily high level of internationality, the presence of all market leaders and highly innovative products and technologies speak for themselves”, said Wolfgang Marzin, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Messe Frankfurt.
The focus of IFFA is on innovative and creative solutions for the safe, efficient and economic production of meat and meat products. For manufacturers of machinery and plant, IFFA is the leading international trade fair and offers the biggest expert network – a special incentive for companies to make their innovations ready for launching on the occasion of the fair. Klaus Schröter, Chairman of the Meat Processing Machines Group of the Federation of German Machine and Plant Manufacturers
(Verband Deutscher Maschinen und Anlagenbau – VDMA), summarised the situation for his membership saying, “The German Machine Manufacturing Industry is very pleased with the results of this year’s IFFA. Numerous new contacts were made and many contracts concluded, several of them for large-scale projects. Increasing meat consumption worldwide is the driving force behind this. And this was also reflected by the high standard of visitors, most of them top international decision makers. Our foreign customers are enthusiastic about the new technologies and the broad product portfolio, which is more diverse than at any other event in the world and makes IFFA unparalleled.”
IFFA is also a must for the butchers’ trade, one of the biggest groups of visitors. Heinz-Werner Suess, President of the German Butchers’ Association (Deutscher Fleischer-Verband – DFV) was delighted with the results of the fair: “Overall, IFFA was an excellent opportunity for us and our partners to show our strengths. After the six-day fair, our opinion remains unchanged: it was an extremely potent presentation for both visitors and representatives of the German butchers’ trade at this, the world’s leading trade fair for the meat-processing business.”
Great internationality: visitors from 143 countries at IFFA 2016
With around 66 percent, IFFA set a new visitor record. The top ten foreign visitor nations were the Russian Federation, Spain, Poland, Italy, the Netherlands, China, the USA, Austria, Australia and the Ukraine. High rates of growth within Europe were noted from Spain, Poland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Romania and Greece. From outside Europe, there were significantly more visitors from the Ukraine, China, the USA, Japan and South Africa.
Successful première for IFFA Forum and IFFA Talk Quality competitions set new records.
In addition to the product innovations being shown by the exhibitors, IFFA was characterised by a multi-faceted complementary programme of events that illuminated current developments in the sector. Highly successful was the debut of IFFA Forum, which attracted over 750 participants from 8 to 11 May whereby particular interest was shown in the subject of ‘Automation and performance optimisation’. Also well attended were the forums on the top themes of ‘Ingredients’, ‘Food safety & traceability’ and ‘Resource efficiency and sustainability’. Also new and an immediate success was the IFFA Talk on the evening of the first day. The panellists were Michael Boddenberg, Chairman of the CDU faction in the Hessian ‘Landtag’ (parliament) and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Central Cooperative of the German Butchers’ Trade (Zentralgenossenschaft des deutschen Fleischergewerbes – ZENTRAG), Wolfgang Hammer, Target Group Manager of Metro Cash & Carry, Frank Kimmer, Spokesman of the Board of Management of Müller Fleisch, Prof Wolfram Schnäckel, Food and Nutritional Sciences Department of Anhalt University, and Klaus Schröter, Chairman of the Meat Processing Machinery Group of the VDMA, Chairman of the IFFA Advisory Board and Partner in Schröter Technologie GmbH & Co. KG. Chaired by Renate Kühlcke (Editor-in-Chief, ‘FleischWirtschaft’ magazine), the discussion covered a thematic spectrum from initial shortage of skilled personnel, to the question of how long IFFA continues to impact on the order books after it closes.
With a total entry of around 3,000 products, the international quality competitions of the German Butchers’ Association (DFV) broke all records at IFFA. Over 2,300 products were judged during the fair itself while over 300 products were entered for each of the two IFFA international DFV competitions in the USA and Russia. The participants of these two competitions, which were held during the run-up to IFFA, were presented with their certificates, medals and trophies at the fair.
Visitors and exhibitors highly satisfied
A Messe Frankfurt poll showed that both exhibitors and visitors gave the fair an extremely positive rating. 97 percent of visitors said they had achieved their goals for the fair. At the same time, 91 percent said the economic climate in the sector is good. The biggest groups of visitors came from the food retail trade, the meat-processing industry and the butchers’ trade. On the exhibitor side, 87 percent of companies said they had achieved their targets for the fair; 81 percent said they had reached their visitor target groups. Almost 60 percent of exhibitors were pleased with the number of German visitors. At the same time, their satisfaction with the standard of visitors rose three percentage points to 77 percent.
89 percent of exhibitors rated the current economic situation in the sector positively.
The top meat-industry subjects at IFFA
What makes IFFA unrivalled as the world’s leading trade fair for the sector is its clear focus: everything revolves around meat. The emphasis is on innovations and trends that cater for market demand and generate decisive impulses for shaping the future. The current trends were reflected by the extensive range of products and services offered by the exhibitors.
Important subjects in the case of machines and plant for processing and packing meat and meat products are quality and the increasing demands on product safety and traceability. Additionally, there is a clear focus on improving productivity through greater energy efficiency, higher output, simple cleaning processing, increasing automation and environmentally-friendly solutions.
In the butchers’ trade, the aim is to tap into new developments in consumer eating habits, i.e., convenience, ‘snacks to go’ and meat-substitute products. Investments in energy efficiency and the simplification of working processes are other top issues in the trade.
In the case of companies from the ingredients and additives segment, the spotlight is on food trends and the nutritional ‘zeitgeist’. ‘Clean labelling’ has been a leading trend in the meat industry for many years and reflects the demands of consumers and the trade for products with as few additives as possible. Another important subject is salt reduction with no loss of taste.
Statements about IFFA 2016
Exhibitors:
Andreas Kraut, Managing Partner and CEO, Bizerba GmbH & Co. KG:
“This year, IFFA once again gave impressive confirmation of its position as the world’s leading trade fair for the sector. At our exhibition stand, we were able to welcome visitors from all over the world and discuss subjects of topical importance, such as automation, food safety and Industry 4.0. The feedback from our guests to our presentation was
outstanding and I was particularly pleased that we were able to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of our company at IFFA with so many international customers, partners and members of staff.”
Karl Keller, CEO of Albert Handtmann Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG:
“For Handtmann, IFFA 2016 was simply overwhelming! Compared to 2013, we had a double-digit increase in the number of visitors. And our new products, especially the new VF 800 vacuum-filling series, met with enormous interest on the part of both regular and new customers. Once again, it was evident that innovative technology can speed-up pending investments. In addition to the productivity of our machines, key subjects from the customers’ perspective continue to be application flexibility, as well as hygiene and the associated food safety.”
Hermann Vogt, Member of the Board of Management, Itec:
“As in the past, IFFA proved to be the meeting place for the international meat industry and, once again, I can only confirm that its reputation as the leading trade fair for the sector is absolutely correct. I was particularly pleased to see the greatly increased number of international visitors, especially decision makers from Australia, South America and Iran.”
Valeska Haux, Senior Director Corporate Marketing, Multivac: “For us, the fair was very good. We received lots of positive feedback from our visitors and, with our exhibits, were able to present numerous answers to our customers’ demands. We welcomed many European and international visitors to our stand. For us, this international orientation of the fair is extremely good because it enables us to show our innovations to an audience of trade visitors from all over the world.”
Shelly Ryder, Marketing Manager, TIPPER TIE:
“This has been an outstanding IFFA for us. We have received many more leads compared to the 2013 IFFA, so our sales team is very satisfied. IFFA is the most important exhibition for TIPPER TIE, as it is a global trade show fully dedicated to meat processing. I wish we had such an event in the USA. At our stand this year, we welcomed visitors mainly from Germany, but also the rest of Europe, Russia, Central and South America and Africa.”
IFFA
Frankfurt am Main, 7 to 12 May 2016
Jürgen Georg Hüniken, Chairman of the Board of Management, VAN HEES:
“For VAN HEES, our presentation under the motto INNOVATION
MEATS TRADITION was once again a complete success. That the decision to take part in IFFA was right was confirmed by the large number of successful discussions whereby the proportion of regular and potential international customers was comparatively even higher. The level of interest and demand for innovative products was enormous and the mood at VAN HEES is very optimistic.”
Mathias Dülfer, CEO, Weber Maschinenbau GmbH:
“We regard IFFA not only as an important meeting place for customers and partners but also as an impulse generator for decisive innovations. Our participation in the fair is much more than just an exhibition stand, it is an investment in the future. We presented numerous new products at the fair and the positive echo from our customers shows we are on the right track. Weber stands for quality, precision and reliability. And we demonstrated this with important new developments, e.g., in future- oriented cutting equipment, automation and quality detection. Creating value added of this kind is highly motivating. We came to the fair with
high expectations in terms of the quality and quantity of the contacts, and were not disappointed. Therefore, we are already looking forward to the next IFFA in 2019.”
Visitors:
Matthias Wagner, Head of Projects / Innovations SSC IT, Bell Group, Bell Schweiz AG, Basel, Switzerland:
“IFFA 2016 was exactly up to my expectations. It is the leading trade fair
for investment goods in the meat industry and holds a fixed place in our calendar of events. Once again, the exchange of information and the updates with visitors of importance for our business was highly successful. The short walking distances, the participation of all important partners and the good service whet the appetite for more.”
Dirk Stoop, General Manager Smoke Flavours EMEA, KERRY Group, Ireland:
“The exhibition IFFA 2016 was again a great success. A central place
where we met with several global business partners as well as with new potential customers. IFFA has proven to keep its great significance for the meat industry. It gives meat processors an easy access to the novelties in the fields of equipment, ingredients, packaging…. The most interesting point is that it enables business leaders to make studies of
the evolutions in technology which in most of the cases are trying to give solutions to the newest needs and trends as sustainability, safety, food
safety, taste…”
Clemens Tönnies, co-owner of the Tönnies Lebensmittel GmbH & Co.KG group of companies:
“IFFA is the most important fair for the technology sector. Taking part
here is a must.”
IFFA
Frankfurt am Main, 7 to 12 May 2016
Felix Zubrowski, Technical Manager, Vion Hilden GmbH:
“IFFA 2016 came up to my expectations and holds a very important overall position in the sector. The exchange of ideas and experiences with national and international colleagues is very important. I was particularly impressed by the new products to be seen at the fair and the social event on Saturday evening.”
The next IFFA will be held in Frankfurt am Main from 4 to 9 May 2019
Further information and photographs can be found at:
