Our Exhibition Stands in May 2019

As readers of this blog will know, last May in Frankfurt, from 4 to 9, IFFA 2019 took place, with around 67,000 visitors from 149 nationalities (7% more than in the previous edition), 1,039 exhibitors from 49 countries and 120,000 m² of exhibition space (9% more than in the last edition).

IFFA was first held 70 years ago as an exhibition accompanying the Conference of the Frankfurt Butchers’ Association. Over the decades, it has become the world’s leading trade fair for the meat industry.
In the current edition, for example, 70% of the visitors came from outside Germany. The countries that contributed the highest number of attendees, in descending order, were: the Russian Federation, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Poland, China, Ukraine, the United States, Austria and Australia.
A significant increase was recorded in visitors from Latin America (+31%) and Eastern Europe (+15%).

The event demonstrated that the sector is fully prepared for the challenges of the near future, with technological innovations such as the smart meat factory, the latest trends in packaging and food safety, and clean labelling.
Exhibitors provided interesting responses to the demands of the meat industry and trade, generating expectations of increased meat quality in a context of excellent conditions for investment.

Wolfgang Marzin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Messe Frankfurt, summarised it as follows: “IFFA has once again proven that it is not only one of our most traditional trade fairs, but also, and above all, the meeting point for industry players from all over the world, such as machinery manufacturers, packaging companies, spice suppliers, and the most important companies in the meat industry, as well as traders and butchers. Many of these companies have been family-owned for generations, and IFFA is where they come together to shape the future of the sector every three years.”

Automation solutions, new software and digitalisation are becoming the driving force of the sector, placing the focus on the concept of the smart factory.
Thanks to this, production processes are becoming more efficient, while food safety remains a central issue. In this regard, the goal is to replace manual activities with automated processes.
Exhibitors demonstrated, for example, fully automated portioning processes and the placement of meat or sausages into packaging materials using feeders or industrial robots.
With regard to packaging, intelligent solutions were also showcased to protect meat products while ensuring resource conservation and sustainability in terms of energy efficiency of machinery and process chains.

For all the reasons mentioned above, the outlook for suppliers in the meat industry is positive, and global meat production is expected to increase by 5% per year until 2027.
The importance of meat in society remains very high, and traditional butcher shops are making efforts to offer consumers high-quality regional products. Alongside this trend, new professions have emerged, such as the meat sommelier.
In other areas of commercial activity related to this industry, innovative sales concepts have also appeared, such as on-line stores, smart kitchens, and customer communication through social media.
All of this points to a very promising future for the meat trade.

On the other hand, IFFA also served as a showcase for outstanding craftsmanship through the international quality competitions promoted by the German Butchers’ Association (DFV).
Students had the opportunity to demonstrate their talent in an international contest in which the most promising butchers from six countries competed against each other.

Despite everything, the event also helped draw attention to the most important challenge facing the sector: the shortage of qualified personnel.
Both machinery manufacturers and various representatives of the meat trade emphasised that companies must invest more in digitalisation, automation and robotics in order to reduce the workload of employees and simplify all stages of meat processing.
It goes without saying that numerous examples of these types of solutions for all kinds of companies in the sector could be seen at IFFA. It is therefore not surprising that 95% of visitors stated that they were highly satisfied with the range of products and services showcased and offered at the fair.

In this context, Cota Creativa had the privilege of building two stands.
First, for Talleres Ramón, a manufacturing company specialising in machinery for the food, beverage and tobacco industries, which has decided to place its trust in us to design and assemble its commercial spaces at various trade fairs.
Secondly, for Andher, a company dedicated to the manufacture and sale of high-quality machinery for the meat industry, with a clear focus on sausage producers and meat derivatives.
Andher’s machinery is the result of more than 30 years of experience in the meat sector and incorporates the latest technology, offering superior finishing quality, operational performance, high precision and safety, while complying with current health regulations.