Inspiring food business

The welcome return of SIAL Paris

INSPIRING FOOD business

After a four-year break, SIAL Paris 2022 returns in-person between 15th and 19th October. Global Marketing and Communication Director JeanGabriel Mollard described the myriad benefits enjoyed by both the visitors and exhibitors at the biggest one-stop trade show in the food industry, in conversation with Phil Nicholls.

Mauro Colagreco - Patron for the Global

Food Marketplace at SIAL Paris 2022 & Michelin three-star chef

©Matteo Carassale Global Marketing & Communication Director Jean-Gabriel Mollard

©Loran Dherines

15-19th October 2022 Paris Nord Villepinte

Book your place today: www.sialparis.com

For over 50 years, the biennial SIAL Paris trade show has welcomed visitors from over 200 countries. The 2020 show was only a digital event, so SIAL Paris 2022 is the return to the standard in-person format. During the intervening four years, the trade show has evolved, adding further benefits for both visitors and exhibitors.

“I’m thrilled to have the worldwide food industry community gathered in Paris for five days,” Global Marketing and Communication Director Jean-Gabriel Mollard said. “SIAL Paris becomes the focus for the global food industry during those five days.”

The sheer size of SIAL Paris 2022 is the first benefit of attending, with 7,000 exhibitors presenting over 400,000 products to 300,000 professional attendees. As these numbers show, this is a huge event offering a vast range of food and drink for visitors to sample, along with all the usual networking benefits of an in-person trade show.

To help structure the visitor experience, SIAL Paris is either organised around pavilions themed to individual countries or by product sector.

“The pavilion exhibitors are also presenting visitors with an experience,” explained Mr Mollard. “They’re bringing local chefs with them to present a real experience of the food. SIAL is about all kinds of food, but for many types of food, you must cook it to appreciate fully the benefits. This is what’s so interesting about a food show –visitors can see the packaging, smell the food cooking, then taste the food.”

Innovation for 2022

In the four years since SIAL Paris last hosted a physical event, the organiser has added several new features to an already packed conference programme. The headline addition for 2022 is the CXMP digital marketplace, allowing for online B2B sales between visitors and exhibitors. The CXMP marketplace runs all year round, to facilitate ongoing business between attendees

Further digitization at SIAL Paris 2022 comes from the launch of an app to enhance the visitor experience at the show. This digital tool helps visitors search for exhibitors, then presents the path through the show to the requested stand. This app is also available for attendees to download.

Another innovation for 2022 is the SIAL Start-up programme, highlighting innovative food solutions. Targeting 100 start-up stalls

The welcome return of SIAL Paris

for 2022, SIAL Paris requires participants in this programme to be less than five years old with a new product ready for sale at the show.

“We want real companies with real products in the start-up programme,” Mr Mollard said, “because if our visitors like the product they will want to buy it at the show.”

The patron for the Global Food Marketplace at SIAL Paris 2022 is Michelin three-star chef Mauro Colagreco whose restaurant Le Mirazur was elected World’s Best Restaurant in 2019. The 2022 marketplace theme is “Own the Change” which matches Chef Colagreco’s values as a leader of cookery trends without frontiers. The philosophy of circular gastronomy extolled by Chef Colagreco will be a key component of the solution to deal with the challenge of food supply through the current ecological transition.

Food insights

The challenges facing the food industry are directly addressed in the SIAL Insights publication, combining the work of three consulting agencies and specifically produced for the Paris event. The 2022 study encompasses consumer expectations, the global innovation panorama and the latest trends in out-of-home cooking. The studies show how eating had become a statement and 73% of consumers have changed their eating habits over the last two years.

The publication has identified four key trends: health, enjoyment, environment and ethics, and price. According to the findings, “eating is something people enjoy, and they want their experience to be both healthy and ethical, now and for the future. Sacrificing one of these factors in exchange for more purchasing power is set to be less and less acceptable given the ongoing crises.”

The report added: “Economic pressure is evolving from the need to balance quality and price, towards a more complex equation: value for money. The plateau reached by the organic market over the period is a great example of that. But consumers do acknowledge that players are making changes. The challenge now is to be able to meet all their expectations with a clear offer that is affordable for as many people as possible.”

Along with digesting the findings of the Insights paper, attendees at SIAL Paris can also attend the programme of SIAL Talks for additional discussion about the state of the food industry. The 2022 programme is designed to help attendees understand, analyse and debate the food scene of tomorrow and reflect on the trends happening in the food industry ecosystem. Key speakers from around the world will address themes such as traceability, adaptability to climate issues and the place of women in the food industry.

Another returning feature for SIAL Paris 2022 is the Innovation awards. “Every exhibitor can participate in the awards,” explained

15-19th October 2022 Paris Nord Villepinte

Book your place today: www.sialparis.com

Mr Mollard, “provided that the product is new to a market and less than two years old. A nominated product must also bring something new and innovative to the market. The awards bring a lot of success and attracts plenty of attention from the media as well as from visitors. SIAL Innovation awards gives us a great overview of the innovations present at the show.”

#Food 2030

Another great source of innovation for attendees is the SIAL Future Lab highlighting the food trends of 2030. Introduced at SIAL 2018, the 2022 version of the Future Lab features three presentations to help attendees plan their business strategy for the next decade. There is an immersive tunnel where visitors can explore four major food trends for 2030, presented via video, 3D holograms and digital mapping. The tunnel was designed in partnership with AlimAvenir, a consultancy firm specialised in forecasting studies.

Another presentation for the Future Lab is the Next Food Generation stand which highlights the future creators of start-ups who are at the design, development or test market phase of their product. These entrepreneurs of tomorrow present solutions for the food of the future in terms of new products, services, packaging and more. Finally, there is the VR Lab where attendees can experience a virtual reality voyage through the food sector, to understand how this technology will revolutionise our daily diet.

The SIAL Paris 2022 team works hard to support all of its partners in the food industry, according to Mr Mollard: “Our visitors are always trying to get a better return on investment for attending the show, which is why we’re investing in new tools and new ways of creating business opportunities. Visiting a trade show is all about the personal relationship you have with the person in front of you, whether selling or buying.

“We really think that the relationship we need to have with our suppliers, partners and clients must be a similar personal connection. The SIAL Paris team believes that it’s not one company, one client, one supplier, instead the whole industry is an ecosystem.”

He concluded: “At SIAL Paris, we adapt the programme and the talks to include issues such as inflation, geopolitical challenges and food security. We think that the future of the industry is bright, for the people who can see through the clouds and make informed choices. The SIAL team is here to help, and we try to do that, in a humble way, as part of our mission.” n