This year, the Health ingredients (Hi) Europe & Natural ingredients (Ni) trade fair, Europe’s leading trade fair for natural and healthy food ingredients, will be held in Frankfurt from Nov. 29 until Dec. 1, marking the third time that the fair is held there.

“Natural” and “free from” have become critical sales factors on the supermarket shelf, and the trend toward foods with added value is, in contrast to the U.S., just now at the start of a colossal shift in perspective. In 2014, the global market in products with a health or fitness aspect had a volume of $774 billion, with an expected growth (CAGR) of 4% by 2019. And this market is expected to pass the trillion-dollar mark by next year. With a turnover of $8.3 billion (2013), Germany is the world’s second largest market and can look back on a growth of 250% over the past 10 years.

To keep track and take best advantage of these trends, Hi Europe & Ni is creating a unique global marketplace for buyers and sellers within the food and beverage industry. This year’s fair will focus on innovative food ingredients, as well as solutions for foods and beverages, dietary supplements, nutraceuticals and bio-products, as well as the themes packaging and processing.

The fair is now open for registration at www.hieurope.com and early registration will mean a savings of €130 in fees. In addition, there are discounts of up to €300 on conference modules. More than 450 manufacturers of natural health and nutrition products will be exhibiting, including big industry player as Naturex, Kerry Group, Nexira, Avebe, Beneo and Tate & Lyle.

Richard Joyce, brand director, UBM, noted, “The Hi & Ni Trade Fair has firmly established itself as this market segment’s most important event, where the important trends are set, and important deals are made. This year, an unbelievable 5,000 food ingredients will be there to be discovered, on 16,500 square meters of exhibition space. Nowhere else in the world is such an overview of the entire market available under one roof. Frankfurt shall once again fulfill its role as hub of Europe’s largest foods industry market, and for both exhibitors and visitors, the opportunities were never as great as they are this year.

Over the three days of the fair, more than 9,000 visitors from a total of 90 countries are expected to attend. A questionnaire on the fair’s previous edition revealed that 80% of visitors use it to make deals and seek opportunities for further development and improvement of products.

A Trade Fair with Added Value

• The specialist conference The Future of Nutrition is a conduit for expert knowledge and expertise on cutting-edge topics as 3D printing of food.
• The Start-up Innovation Challenge: this year, in cooperation with partner firms Agroparc and Presence, Hi Europe & Ni has made it possible for start-ups to present their innovations, free of charge, in a special dedicated area.
• Industry Insight Theatre: segment experts share their insights in the form of short presentations. This format has proven to be one of the most popular ones at the exhibition. This year, the topics will include omega-3 fatty acids.
• Global Seminar Theatre: when confronted with 5,000 products, it can be difficult to make a choice. For that reason, exhibitors will be presenting their product highlights at the Global Seminar Theatre.
• Innovation Tours, in cooperation with Nutrimarketing. Grouped by topic, the Innovations Tours are designed to enable visitors to organise their time at the fair as efficiently as possible.
• New Product Zone. Here, especially innovative and/or market-relevant new products are to be presented.

New: Health & Nutrition Week 2016
For the first time, UBM is organizing a week-long festival around the theme of natural and healthy food ingredients in cooperation with Messe Frankfurt. The event, which will be held from Nov. 28 until Dec. 2, shall feature a number of exhibitions, conferences, lectures, panel discussions and other events and bring internationally known experts together with their peers. The festival will enable visitors to make their visit to Frankfurt even more informative.

Amongst the topics of Health & Nutrition Week 2016 are:

• Health, nutrition and wellness
• Bioproducts
• Clean labeling of foodstuffs
• Nutritional science, research and development
• Food security and regulatory matters
• Food production and retail distribution
• Sport nutrition and sport science
• Technology and the future of the health and nutrition industries
• Foods, finances and agribanking