Held from 26 to 28 November 2013 at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) in Nairobi / Kenya will be the first Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum (FPPE) realised by the organiser StarlingExpo in cooperation with Messe Düsseldorf. It will be the first “member” of the international “packaging family” of interpack to be held in Africa. The Advisory Board of the leading international trade fair for the packaging sector and related process industries recommended this commitment in Africa.
The Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum selectively targets machinery, equipment and process suppliers as well as food producers and processors representing the complete process chain from the initial process steps such as filling and packaging to logistics. BOSCH Packaging Technology, Multivac and Fawema are three market leaders who have already opted for participation.
“With the Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum we are tapping into an enormous market potential for our customers while at the same time providing access to urgently needed technology for food producers, which can make an important contribution to curbing food losses there. This is why the SAVE FOOD Initiative supports this step towards concrete measures in a country especially seriously affected by food losses in the early stages of the production chain,” explains Bernd Jablonowski, Director interpack.
“The special format of the Exposyum takes exhibitors by the hand and does not leave them alone in unknown market,” says Urs Albert Ingold, CEO of StarlingExpo AG and founder of this format, and goes on to say: “We will kick off every day with keynote speeches by experts that provide practical information on setting up a business or entering into partnerships in Kenya and East Africa in general. This gives the companies exhibiting at the Nairobi venue, which is equipped with the latest presentation and network technology the added option of showcasing solutions of relevance to the African market. The exchange amongst participants at the Exposyum is meant to focus on both demand-driven technologies for local requirements and marketing and distribution strategies – including a look beyond Kenya’s borders. The Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum explicitly also addresses small and medium-sized enterprises with the aim of enabling them to make targeted contacts for building distribution and service networks in Eastern Africa.
As part of the conference programme the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the partner of Messe Düsseldorf in the SAVE FOOD Initiative, jointly with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) will present their results of a current on-going study on the extent of and reasons for losses of maize, fish, banana and dairy products in Kenya. In this way companies in the process and packaging technology are given pointers for mitigating the problem of these food losses with the help of their products and the corresponding know-how while developing promising sales markets at the same time.
After the end of the daily agenda there is an exhibition lounge available for exchange and networking for two more hours. Representatives of private and governmental agencies are also available for relevant information talks during the day. Following the 3-day Exposyum there is a possibility to visit local companies.
Nairobi, where the venue is located, is the leading communication and business centre in Kenya. With 3 million inhabitants the city is also home to numerous international organisations. Kenya is considered one of Africa’s most promising markets. Posting five to seven per cent growth annually and as the business hub of the region this market is already developing very dynamically today.
Parties interested in the Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum will find further details on and registration documents at www.fppe-ke.com.
FPPE is the tenth member of Messe Düsseldorf’s international family of packaging trade fairs, which now comprises events on five continents, all of them of major significance for their respective regional markets. These complement interpack as the international flagship trade fair of this alliance.