On 24-27 November, Crocus Expo hosted Ingredients Russia 2009, the 12th International Exhibition for Food Ingredients, Additives and Flavourings, which for may years has been a leading specialised forum in this sector of the Russian food industry.
Ingredients Russia is organised by ITE, a leader in terms of the number of annual professional events held in Russia. ITE is also the owner and organiser of the major food exhibition World Food Moscow, and the leading food products and food industry equipment exhibition ProdSib. ProdMash (Novosibirsk).
The importance of Ingredients Russia was remarked upon by representatives of ministries and departments, and leading industry experts. At the opening ceremony, Sergey Seregin, Deputy Director of the Department for Food, Food Processing and Product Quality at the Ministry of Agriculture RF, said: “Today, the food industry comprises about 30 sectors in which more than 50,000 enterprises operate. And you can imagine how important ingredients are for manufacturing food products.”
Ingredients Russia traditionally brings together a large audience of food industry professionals. This year, 160 companies from 20 countries (including Russia, Italy, Germany, France, India and China) took part in the exhibition. Over 7000 specialists visited the exhibition, including representatives of food manufacturers from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Samara and other cities, as well as Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus and other CIS countries.
There was much interest in the TechnoFood sector of the exhibition, which presented equipment, technology and packaging for the food industry – all the necessary components for obtaining a finished product.
Over 400 specialists took part in the 10th International Forum “Food Ingredients of the 21st Century”, which was sponsored by the Nizhegorodsky Oils and Fat Plant. The forum focused on the prospects for the development of the food ingredients market during the economic crisis. The question of technical regulation of food products and the related draft federal law provoked a lively response from the audience.
The forum sessions on innovative technologies in food production and the confectionary industry were attended by over 200 food technologists. The special session “In Focus: Special Fats” was held with the support of the Union of Food Ingredients Producers, the Association of Manufacturers of Soap, Oil and Fat Products, the Russian Oils and Fats Union, and the “Food Industry” publishing house, and sponsored by the industry leaders Efko Group and Solnechnye Produkty.
The participants reached the conclusion that a number of measures need to be implemented to improve the safety of food products. As part of the special session, Moscow State University of Food Production and the Institute of Nutrition, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, gave a book presentation: “Fat products for healthy eating. A modern view”.
Soyuzsnab, TD Avers, Berezovy Mir and Dzhordzhiya presented their new developments in the “Year’s New Products” forum session and the Innovations Zone, which was sponsored by Soyuzsnab.
The following people presented papers at the forum: A. Nechaev (President of the Union of Food Ingredients Producers); E. Kauts (Editor-in-Chief of ‘Food Ingredients, Raw Materials and Additives’ magazine; Vice President of the Union of Food Ingredients Producers); E. Tyurina (General Director of the Agrarian Marketing Institute); D. Petrov (President of the National Institute of Technical Regulation); and T. Savenkova (Deputy Director of the Scientific Research Institute of the Confectionary Industry, Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences).
The paper given by Y. Sultanovich, Research and Development Director at Solnechnye Produkty, “Oil and fat raw materials and technologies for producing specialised fats with reduced fatty acid trans-isomer content”, received a special diploma in the “Ingredient of the Year” contest.
This year, Ingredients Russia featured a Food Production Technologists School. Forty six technologists received a certificate of advanced training. “At the moment, in the food industry, especially at new factories, there are experts with insufficient training and, sometimes, without relevant knowledge in general. At the Food Production Technologists School we have tried to bring together international experience to give experts as much new information as possible,” said Mr A. Nachaev, President of the Union of Food Ingredients Producers. “Similar lectures are given by commercial companies, but, as a rule, they place the emphasis on their own production. Here, we are trying to look at things objectively.” The lectures (on such issues as ingredients production, and the use of biologically active additives, food dyes and flavourings in production processes) were given by leading industry specialists: A. Nechaev, A. Kochetkova, E. Gorenkov, I. Matveeva, A. Semenova and E. Smirnov. The School was organised by Moscow State University of Food Production and ITE.
The exhibition also included the “Ingredient of the Year” contest, the aim of which was to popularise the production of food ingredients, increase the use of competitive ingredients in Russia’s food industry (in particular, food dyes, seasonings, spices, confectionary ingredients, and food stabilisers and flavourings), and promote innovation in food production technologies. Gold medals were awarded to Valetek Prodimpeks, Scorpio-Aromat, Schaller Moscow, Eko Resurs, Zelenye Linii, Bely Ostrov, Solnechnye Produkty, Efko-Kaskad and Berezovy Mir. A special diploma was presented to Ms T. Kotkova, Executive Director of the Union of Food Ingredients Producers, for her contribution to the development of the industry. Diplomas of encouragement were presented to Protein-Plyus (for a series of seminars and conferences), “Food Industry” publishing house (for promoting food ingredients over many years), the magazines “Food Ingredients: Raw Materials and Additives” and “Food Ingredients Business”, and a number of leading industry scientists in the “Best Publication” category.
In 2010, Ingredients Russia, the 12th International Exhibition for Food Ingredients, Additives and Flavourings, will be held on 23-26 November in a new venue - the All-Russian Exhibition Centre (pavilion no. 75). Ingredients Russia will again be held alongside Pharmtech, the Moscow International Technologies for the Pharmaceutical Industry Exhibition. By holding the two exhibitions together, the full range of equipment, technologies and ingredients for the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries can be presented in one venue.