The premier technology supplier fair for food & beverages, snacks, bakery & confectionery processing & packaging – Inter FoodTech, Snack & BakeTec and Pac MechEx opened its doors to visitors and floor to the participants. Scheduled from 9 to 11 June 2022, the trade show offers a plethora of opportunities to learn, interact, and nurture their businesses.

The event was inaugurated by Sanjeev Gupta from Kanchan Metals, Sirjan Kochhar from Kiron Food Processing Technologies, JAYESH GOSRANI from Goma Group, Rao B.P. from GEA Group, Ajith Dharan from Buhler Group India, Venkatesha Parthasarathy from Heat and Control South Asia, Sanjay Kumar from Standard Machinery Corporation and Ali Al Mutawa from Sharjah Airport International Free Zone.

The first day of the trade show was also enriched with networking sessions, live demonstrations, well-curated concurrent seminar topics with a focus on current and future industry trends addressed by eminent speakers, and more.

Highlights of the Day 1

• Inter FoodTech Conclave - Food Processing Industry - Learnings for the Future

• Unveiling of Report ‘The Plant Based Revolution - Growth Opportunities and Winning Strategies in the Global and Indian Plant Based Market

• Pac MechEx Congress - Innovations in Food Packaging: Safety, Security and Sustainability

• Live demonstrations

• Business networking

Inter FoodTech Conclave

First day of Inter FoodTech Conclave was held with Inter FoodTech and Snack & BakeTec Expos at BEC, Mumbai. The expert speakers highlighted technical developments & challenges in the food and beverage processing sector through changing times.

Plant based protein, opportunity to lead the world

The rise in interest in the plant-based foods is skyrocketing owing to lifestyle diseases, conscience of consumers and rise in the number of flexitarians worldwide. Plant based food startups are popping up rapidly and trying their hands on this new trend to change the way we eat.

The opening day of the Inter FoodTech Conclave started with the unveiling of the present market report on the plant-based revolution by Sanjay Sethi, executive director-PBFIA. PBFIA is a CEO-led body that aims to mainstream plant-based foods while providing new avenues for economic growth. It has health and sustainability as its key driving forces.

According to the report, today's socially conscious consumers gravitate toward plant-based food. Commenting on the reason for this shift, Sanjay Sethi, executive director-PBFIA, said, “There is a huge revolution coming from the consumer side who believe they can bring a change through their eating habits as well as the investor side who want their money to go to sustainable foods. Anyone who is touching the plant-based foods industry is turning to gold.”

Talking about the need for plant-based foods, chief commercial officer at Blue Tribe Foods, Sohil Wazir said, “Getting meat and dairy from animals is a highly inefficient process. You must feed animals almost ten times the number of calories to get one calorie of meat out of them. As long as we offer consumers the right taste, texture and price point, there is no reason for them to choose animal-based meat or milk.”

Commenting on the plant-based trend worldwide, Devika Suresh, innovation associate at the Good Food Institute said, “We perceive the plant-based meat movement to be global with studies showing that India and China have the largest percentage of people willing to try and consume plant based products.”

Sanjay Sethi expressed his gratitude to the speakers and audience for choosing to attend the talk and be a part of the plant-based foods revolution with a vote of thanks to end the session.

Further, sharing his vision and thoughts, Sanjay Sethi, said, "With plant-based foods, there are a lot of world problems we are looking forward to getting solved sustainably. The emission of greenhouse gases is one of the major world problems which seems to be tackled easily through plant-based foods. It’s not because plant-based foods are the ultimate option but along with that, it’s a safer and healthier option for people. On the other hand, plant-based foods are a gateway to cruelty-free food consumption."

"While to tackle environmental issues the whole world is talking about Electric Vehicles and Lesser coal usage, agriculture is another major factor to be taken care of. As we know the production of rice and sugar consumes a lot of water which is not so healthy for enrolment. Prime Minister Modi, had declared that by 2070, there will be no additional greenhouse gases emission by India. Hence, we need to tackle greenhouse gas emissions and the agriculture industry plays a major role in pollution."

"The concept of adopting a plant-based diet is getting very popular among millennials nowadays. They are fascinated with the fact that they can make a change in the world by merely changing their food consumption habits or choosing an alternative. There are four major pillars in the development of the plant-based foods industry that we need to focus on: Innovation, investment, policy-making and supply chain."

The Inter FoodTech Conclave also included the panel discussion, where the experts highlighted technical developments & challenges in the Chocolate and Cocoa processing sector through changing times.

Pac MechEx Congress

Pac MechEx Congress held on the theme 'Innovations in Food Packaging: Safety, Security and Sustainability', under the patronage of the Indian Institute of Packaging – IIP served as a knowledge-sharing platform for the packing professionals and processed food manufacturers to come together and deliberate on the solutions required versus the solutions available. The panel discussion highlighted trends and market overview in the post-pandemic time, sustainable and innovative packaging of the bakery, confectionery, dairy and snacks.

Jayesh Gosrani, managing director, GOMA, said, “Given that this is just the beginning, the footfall has been quite good. And it seems like people all over the country from Delhi to Bangalore are under this roof. Hopefully, this considerable amount of footfall would be beneficial for all.”

B P Rao, senior director, Gea, said, “I’m very happy about the event, the footfall shows the dedication put in by the organizers to make this work. Also apart from this exhibition, there are concurrent conclaves going on such as technical seminars on some very interesting emerging topics such as sustainability, the emerging needs of the foods, etc.”

Anand Thakkar, manager- sales and marketing, Pace Packaging, said, "As you can see, the exhibition is going very well so far. Our target customers have visited our stall, hoping to get some new customers. We have got some good new inquiries, so I would say it is a very good start to the show for us. Let's see what happens on other days, but we are hopeful that it will go better."

Plan your visit to attend the 2 and 3 day of the trade show

Gain insightful knowledge from the best in the industry and take your food and beverage manufacturing business to new heights.

Register Here to visit the exhibition

For further queries, please contact +91 9985099009; mp@vaexhibitions.com

PBFIAInter FoodTech ConclavePac MechEx CongressInter FoodTech 2022