First Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum in Kenya a Resounding Success

Exhibitors and visitors at the Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum (FPPE) celebrating its premiere at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) in Nairobi between 26 and 28 November 2013 gave the event top marks. They particularly praised the special concept of combining exhibition and symposium realised by organiser StarlingExpo in cooperation with Messe Düsseldorf. Overall, just under 650 specialists came to Nairobi from Kenya and its surroundings states in East Africa.

On the exhibitor side the Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum was aimed at suppliers of machinery, facilities and processes as well as the food and food-processing industry along the entire process chain from initial processing stages and filling/bottling and packaging through to logistics. Over twenty market leaders, including BOSCH Packaging Technology, Multivac and Fawema, attended the event as exhibitors.

The ranges of these exhibitors were supplemented by lectures by top notch experts providing practical information on company set-ups and partnerships in Kenya and East Africa in general. Furthermore, companies were also able to present their solutions tailored specifically to the East African market. At the focus of the exchanges between participants at the Exposyum was not just technology tailored to local requirements but also marketing and sales strategies. The event was opened by the Kenyan Minister, Mr Abdulla Mohamed, EBS, Cabinet Secretary for Ministry of Industrialisation and Enterprise Development.

“With the Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum we have paved the way for our customers into a very promising market at an ideal point in time. Likewise, for food producers in Kenya and East Africa we also provide access to packaging and process technology that can form the basis for further economic development and, at the same time, help curb the high level of food waste prevalent locally. For this reason, we have incorporated the SAVE FOOD theme into the event and involved the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO as our partner in this initiative within the lecture programme. For the SAVE FOOD initiative the Exposyum is a key step towards taking concrete measures to combat unnecessary food waste at the early stages of the production chain,” explains Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, Board Chairman at Messe Düsseldorf.

“The special format of the Exposyum is ideally suited to a market like East Africa because, in particular, it offers exhibiting companies not yet active locally the valuable information they need for successful market entry combined with uncomplicated participation,” explains Urs Albert Ingold, CEO at StarlingExpo AG.

“For us Africa is an interesting market as here demand for high-performance machinery is growing. As an exhibitor at the Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum we were able to further deepen our contacts on the market. We were entirely convinced by the concept,” stressed Friedbert Klefenz, Chair of the Divisional Board at BOSCH Packaging Technology and President of interpack 2014.

2014 will already see the holding of the next Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum from 18 -20 November – once again in Nairobi, Kenya.