Barcelona International Food and Drinks Exhibition experiences an increase of 1.4% in visitor numbers

Barcelona (ACN).- The 2012 Barcelona International Food and Drinks Exhibition ‘Alimentaria’ received 1.4% more visitors than its last edition. ‘Alimentaria’, which is one of the most important food and drinks trade fairs in the world is organised every two years in the Catalan capital. More than 142,000 attended the event, with 4,000 companies displaying their products. 40,000 foreign visitors from 60 different countries discovered the new products and services displayed at the 2012 ‘Alimentaria’, which represents 29% of the total number of visitors, an 11% increase compared to 2010. The Barcelona International Food and Drinks Exhibition fair ran from March 26^th to March 29^th and took place in the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona (Barcelona’s Trade Fair). More than 1,700 journalists signed up to visit the event.

With this year’s edition, ‘Alimentaria’ consolidates its position as the leading food and drinks trade fair in Spain and one of the most important at world level. According to Fira de Barcelona’s President, Josep Lluís Bonet, the success of this trade fair shows that “the sector is resisting the crisis bringing positive data, which has a great economic impact for the country’s present and future”. Furthermore, Alimentaria’s Director, Josep Antoni Valls, said that the agri-food sector “vertebrates the economy and progress, and is absolutely committed to health, sustainability, employment, economy, social cohesion, culture, innovation, the rural world, and the brand ‘Spain’”.

Alimentaria has focused on the internationalisation of the sector, which is mainly formed by SMEs in its 96%. Therefore, these small and medium sized companies have in such a trade fair its main and almost only platform to promote its products and reach international markets. In order to facilitate this international business, ‘Alimentaria’ has held more than 8,000 meetings between Spanish and importation companies from worldwide. Of the 4,000 exhibiting companies, 1,300 came from abroad from countries such as Thailand, Dubai, Sweden, or newcomer Japan. Furthermore, Chinese companies have doubled their exhibiting space in the fair. Other countries with a significant presence in the fair were Indonesia, India, Iran, Brazil, Chile, United States, and almost all the European Union countries.