17th WorldFood Ukraine 2014 Exhibition: everything for the food and drink market

The visitors and exhibitors of the 17th International WorldFood Ukraine 2014 exhibition took advantage of the many opportunities on offer to establish new business relations.

Exhibition organisers ITE Group Plc (United Kingdom) and Premier Expo (Ukraine) are sure that the business meetings at the International Exhibition Centre in Kyiv on 28-30 October led to the signing of many important contracts.

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine gave its official support to WorldFood Ukraine 2014. "For many years, the exhibition has facilitated the development of the retail market, the expansion of the range of products in retail chains, modernisation of food and drink production and bringing the national food industry closer to global standards," - underlined Minister Igor Shvayka.

"The market is changing now. Only the strongest and most stable players will remain - those that work, pay taxes and put their plans into action with determination. Ukraine needs strong medium sized businesses and money in the economy. I am also sure that our exhibition will help to find new ways for you to develop," - stated WorldFood Ukraine Project Manager Elena Sinitsina.

The 2014 exhibition featured producers and suppliers from Belgium, Germany, Greece, Georgia, Denmark, India, Spain, Lithuania, Poland, Singapore, USA, Thailand, Turkey, Czech Republic, South Korea and 12 regions of Ukraine.

The national stand of companies from Czech Republic was at the exhibition for the first time with the support of Czech Trade. The stand was located next to the national pavilions of Poland, organised by Agencja Rynku Rolnego, Germany, organised by the German Export Association for Food and Agriproducts Gefa E.V. and Spain, organised by ICEX and the Commercial Department of the Spanish Embassy in Kyiv.

The exhibition was separated into specialised saloons. The stands of producers with their own brands were marked with the "PL" - Private Label sign in the guide and interactive floor plan, while new products were under the "New" Sign.

New products at the exhibition included fish and seafood from the Seychelles (Oceanica Group) and Singapore (Asia Food Company PTE), seaweed snacks from South Korea (Goodbawee Food), peanuts, rice, sesame seeds and raisins from India (VNKC Agrocom PVT), Italian pasta prepared using advanced technologies (Balzano-Food), Casa Luker chocolate products from Colombia (Magnum SP), Kaga coconut milk, Aroy-D Chinese sauce, ready "Liniya Vkusa" Japanese and European meals (Morskoy Dom), Ukrainian Aromaty Prirody phyto tea (Mister T) and new Latteville cheeses and other goat milk products (Bolgradsky Cheese Factory). Food producers were offered EKO PAK flexible packaging materials (Aventin), Menikini steam generators (Stan-Komplekt) and also the ResPOS advanced set of software for retail and fast food restaurants (Rezonans).

Producers of the Pomidora brand ASS LLC presented the new GOSTyuga Ukrainian sauce brand, Bestcom presented tinned fruit and vegetables, the Best Time sweetened brand and Pregale confectionery, Prodlogistica presented Ogonek brand tinned fruits and vegetables and Sto Pudov brand groceries while Ukr-agro-produkt presented Novoukrainka cereals and muesli as well as sweets and Hlebodar bakery products. Drinking water producers Galytska and producers of chewing gun Neptun also chose the exhibition to put their new products on the market.

The 2014 exhibition featured coffee and tea produced by Polish and Ukrainian producers, fruit and berry liqueurs, sweets and macaroni from Poland, concentrated tropical juices and nectar, nuts, dried fruits and spices from India, fish and seafood from Alaska, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore, pasta, olives, prosciutto and cheeses from Italy, Ukrainian cereals, sauces, snacks, macaroni, cheeses, ingredients for food production and tinned vegetables, Greek peaches and olives, modern packaging, refrigeration and trading equipment from national suppliers and producers.

The food exhibition has opened up great opportunities for national and foreign suppliers.

The work of purchasers from large chains at the Retail-Distributor Centre in 2014 was added to by the première of The Buyer's Programme, which is aimed at attracting regional and non-chain retailers. Buyers from the Zhitomir and Chernigov, Cherkassy and Kirovograd, Ternopil and Lviv, Zakarpattia and Ivano-Frankivsk, Nikolaev and Kiev, as well as Khmelnitsky regions came to the exhibition in Kyiv as part of the programme. 49 of the participants represented regional distribution and wholesale companies, supermarket chains and restaurants. They held meetings with suppliers of exotic fruit, fish and seafood from the southern seas, chocolate and biscuits, tea and coffee, meat and milk products, Ukrainian cheeses and groceries and fresh and tinned vegetables.

The organisers are sure that the Buyer's Programme and the meetings held in the Retail-Distributor Centre will ensure that chain stores such as Fora, Eko-market, Mega Market, Barvinok, Faino Market, Veresen Plus, Sedam and Svit Market and the menus of the popular Lviv chain !Fest and Whisky Corner and Kyiv will be filled with new and delicious food and drink products. 

60 types of food and drink products have been awarded diplomas and medals at the 17th annual WorldFood Ukraine Tasting Contest. These included cheeses from Lithuania and juices from Georgia, drinks from South Korea, olive oil, prosciutto, dried vegetables from Italy, beer, ice cream, sausages, sauces, cheeses, butter, tea, snacks and other food products from Ukraine.

Winners of the Best Brands Rating that were awarded diplomas included Yagotinskoye, Selyanskoye and President butters, Oleina, Chumak and Schedry Dar sunflower oils, Sandora, Nash Sik, Sadochok juices and nectars and Tru Medvedya, Drygalo and Gerkules dumplings and others. The Rating was organised by the Ukrainian Rating Agency.

The annual Development of the organic product market in Ukraine international conference featured discussions on the comparison between of organic product related legislation in Ukraine and Europe, subject of price formation for organic products, export prospects of large and small agricultural holdings, requirements and standards for organic products and establishment of connections with European colleagues. Guests from Switzerland, France, Poland, Czech Republic and Austria took part in the discussion.

Czech Trade Agency and the Czech & Moravian Dairy Association announced their intent to put Czech cheeses and dairy products on the Ukrainian market during the presentation.

Experts from Postmen digital agency gave advice on the promotion of products using social networks at the "Path from internet user to client. Online tools for the food industry" seminar.

The organisers gave visitors sweets with the exhibition logo in exchange for photos and selfies from the exhibition. The exclusive chocolates with the logo were provided by one of the exhibitors.

Famous Italian pizza chef Ermanno Furlanis demonstrated his mastery of pizza preparation over two days, making the stand of distributors of Italian Pastabella products Alfa-Tul one of the most popular in the pavilion.

The organisers gathered retail and food industry CVs and job vacancies at the Job Fair stand to help the exhibitors and visitors to find work or employees.

The WorldFood Ukraine 2014 exhibition showed that the popularity of the Ukrainian food and drink market is growing, with national producers that are ready to compete on the external and internal markets even under harsh economic conditions.

WorldFood Ukraine 2014 statistics:

Number of exhibitors - 83
Exhibiting countries - 16 (Ukraine, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Georgia, Denmark, India, Spain, Lithuania, Poland, Singapore, USA, Thailand, Turkey, Czech Republic, South Korea).
Visitors - 4319 people, including 87% specialists

http://worldfood.com.ua/ru/