PRODEXPO’2009, the 16th International Exhibition for Food, Beverages and Food Raw Materials

25 / 03 / 2009

The 16th edition of Prodexpo, the largest food forum in Russia and Eastern Europe, was successfully run at Expocentre Fairgrounds on 9 - 13 February 2009.

This important event organized by Expocentre was held with the support of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture and the Government of Moscow and under the patronage of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. The Prodexpo Exhibition is approved by UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and RUEF, the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs. The event proudly carries their logos as a label of quality, high international status and prestige.

A.V. Gordeev, the Russian Minister of Agriculture, visited expositions arranged by Russian food industry leaders, and national pavilions of Poland, France and other countries. He highly evaluated the level of Prodexpo’2009, emphasizing that its scale was comparable with that of the world’s major food shows such as, for instance, the Green Week in Berlin. During his visit A.V. Gordeev carried on negotiations with Marek Sawicki, the Minister of Agriculture and Village Development of Poland, and highlighted the event’s favourable business environment for establishing contacts and developing all-round cooperation.

In her speech of welcome at the Prodexpo’2009 opening ceremony, Mrs. Fernanda Guerrieri, FAO’s Subregional Coordinator for Central and Eastern Europe and Deputy Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia, really appreciated the Prodexpo’2009 Exhibition and its significance for the development of the international cooperation.

This year the total exhibition space of Prodexpo exceeded 80,000 sq m. Over 1,800 companies – domestic and foreign leaders of the food industry – from 57 countries demonstrated their products. It elevates the international status of the exhibition. It is important to note that over 60% of exhibitors were Russian companies.

36 countries presented their national expositions: Australia, Austria, Argentina, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Poland, Republic of Korea, Republic of South Africa, Serbia, Spain, Sri-Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand and the USA. The national expositions of Kazakhstan, Singapore, Tunisia, Uruguay and Japan were a premiere of the year. A lot of national expositions testify a great quality of the exhibition. That is why this show can be considered one of the leading exhibitions of the world. Prodexpo’2009 was attended by over 48,000 visitors, 92% of whom were professionals of the food industry.

The full range of foodstuffs and beverages by domestic and foreign manufacturers was showcased in 16 thematic sections of Prodexpo’2009.

For the first time the Prodexpo Management in association with the Legal Bridge company launched a Consulting Centre within the Exhibition. Exhibitors and visitors got free consultations on legal and financial issues from professional lawyers, attorneys, financial consultants and auditors.

Professionals of the food industry could solve personnel problems in the Employment Centre organized by the Prodexpo Management in association with the Athena Employment Agency.

The Prodexpo Exhibition is not only an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the latest novelties of the world and domestic foodstuffs and beverages market but also to exchange experience. And a large-scale business support program promoted it to a considerable degree.

The Republic of Moldova had a large national exposition at the exhibition. For the first time the Moldova Wine Week organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Moldova Republic in association with the Embassy of the Moldova Republic in the Russian Federation and the Moldova-Vin Agro-Industrial Agency with the support from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation and Expocentre was held within the show. This event symbolizes the return of Moldovan manufacturers to the Russian market. During the first day of the exhibition the Moldovan-Russian Trade Forum “The Winemaking Industry of the Moldova Republic and Export Potential of its Winemaking Companies”, the Round Table “The Situation and the Development Prospects of Winemaking Industry in Moldova” and the master class for specialists “The Real Quality of the Moldovan Wines” took place. The official Moldavian delegation at the head of E.N. Dodon, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova, Minister of Economic Affairs and Trade of Moldova, heads of enterprises and specialists of the Republic’s winemaking industry.

A conference "The Prospects of the Development and Promotion of Safe and Healthy Food Market in Russia" was held within the framework of the NutraOrganic/NutraBio sector, which has become traditional at the fair; the event was organized by "FER EKS Company" and "the Ecological Union of Saint-Petersburg". The prospects and the potential development of the Russian healthy food market, the peculiarities of bioproducts in Europe and the issues of the bioproducts certification were discussed there.

Within the All-Russian Trade Forum The Network Purchases Center was open. It enabled delegates of the Forum to carry on negotiations with 76 Russian retail network purchasers for delivery of their products, to choose new partners, to made contracts and to determine the further development strategy. Major retail networks from all the Russian regions including METRO, Auchan, Billa, Bonton, Diksi, Dom Edy, Kvartal, Kopeika, Land, Magnit, Mercury, Prizma, Petyorochka, Sem’ya, Utkonos and many other companies were presented in The Network Purchases Center.

Within the exhibition Prodexpo’2009, The 3rd Russian Food Forum Brand Becomes a Hit. Technology of the 21st Century was held. Participants discussed issues concerning the necessity of changing marketing strategies, current methods of sale promotion within a limited budget, response to the change in customer demand and many others.

The Prodexpo’2009 Contest Programme included the major branch contest The Best Product, The Prodexpo’2009 Innovation Product and The Choice of Retail Networks Contests, The Best Enterprise of the 21st Century Multibranch Contest, the 11th International Alcohol Tasting Contest as well as the branch contest ProdExtraPack.

For many years, The Best Product Competition has been one of the key events held within the exhibition and a significant event for the Russian food industry. The Competition was held by Agroexposervice under the aegis of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture with the purpose to support domestic manufacturers, to widen assortment and to promote their products in the domestic and foreign market. This year 1,300 samples on the widest assortment of food products were presented in the Competition, 60% of them were rewarded with gold, silver and bronze medals as well as with Competition certificates. Grand Prix, the highest prize, was awarded to the best product. The award ceremony was held during the exhibition in the nominations Milk Products; Bread and Bakery; Confectionery; Honey; Tea, Coffee; Preserved, Fruit and Vegetable Products, Processed Products; Fat-and-Oil Products; Meat Products; Soft Drinks, Beer, Mineral Water; Wine-Making Products. Grand Prix was awarded to the following companies: Ozeretski MKK (the Moscow Region) and Nalchikski MKK (Kabardino-Balkaria), Ozyorski Souvenir, KK (the Moscow Region), Goriachekljuchevskaya Company (the Krasnodarsky Krai), Martadel and Ost-Akva (the Moscow Region), Lagoda, PK (Saint-Petersburg), Kristall (Moscow), and Kizlyar (Dagestan). The winners of the Best Food Packaging Contest were also named.

The 11th International Alcohol Tasting Contest, organized by Stolychniy Stil’ under the auspices aegis of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Moscow and with the support from Expocentre became a spectacular event. The Tasting Contest reached the highest level and became an essential part of this major food exhibition in Russia. In opinion of the Russian alcoholic market experts and participants, the Contest fairly evaluated Russian and foreign products. For many of them the Contest is a good start to develop business and to strengthen their positions in the market. The best Russian and foreign companies were given gold, silver and bronze medals of the Prodexpo-2009 International Exhibition. In addition to honourable medals, the Contest special prize called The Prodexpo’2009 Star was awarded to the following companies: Alvis,Altera Group, the Astrakhanskiy Distillery, Bashspirt, Belyi Gorod, Benat, Veresk(the Kashinski Distillery), Grey Valley, Luding, Markethall, Perm-Alko, Russ-Alko, the Saranskiy Distillery, the Syktyvkarskiy Distillery, Hortitsa (Russia), Minsk Kristall (Belarus), Koblevo, Nemiroff Holding Ltd, the Tavriya Agro-Industrial Company (Ukraine), and Grace de Chile (Chile). Grand Prix of the 11th International Alcohol Tasting Contest was rewarded to such companies as Chernogolovski plant Ost-Alko (for the highest product quality during 10 years), Luding, JSC Novokubanskoye, the Rodnik Samarskiy Distillery, Imageholding, Tatspirtprom and the Kuchino Distillery.

The Prodexpo’2009 Innovation Product Contest was held in four nominations: Innovations in Technology; Innovations in Product composition; Innovations in Packaging; Innovations in Convenient Consumption – Convenient Food. The Contest took place with the support from the APK Branch Union Association (ASSAGROSS) and under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, with the information support of the Food Industry Publishing House and the Goods Matrix Internet Catalogue of foodstuffs. 23 companies presented 71 food products. The winners were given gold and silver medals.

28 companies participated in The Choice of Trading Networks Tasting Contest. They showed 86 food products. The Contest determined some potentially interesting products for retail networks, familiarized retailers with new products. The Contest winners received certificates, which will facilitate negotiations with network buyers.

Within Prodexpo’2009, the traditional CompetitionsFor the High Consumer Goods Properties and For the Successful Promotion of Quality Goods – were held. A wide range of foodstuffs was presented in the Competition. It was organized by Soyuzexpertiza of the Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Expocentre. This year, over 80 samples of foodstuffs as well as strong and soft drinks were presented by exhibiting companies. 23 companies were nominated for awards: fish and seafood, meat and meat foods, pasta, confectionery, canned food, soft and strong drinks. Diplomas of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd degrees as well as gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded.

The Prodexpo’2009 International Exhibition will serve the further development of the domestic food industry directed to the country food protection, the saturation of the Russian consumer market with high quality foodstuffs.


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