9 minute read
Reuniting the UK’s food and drink industry once more
For more than 40 years, the mission of IFE, International Food & Drink Event, has been to help attendees build relationships and find the products that will revolutionise their business. Welcoming over 30,000 retailers, wholesalers and professionals of the food service industry, IFE is the single largest food and drinks fair in the United Kingdom.
Overseeing preparations ahead of IFE 2022 is Event Director Philippa Christer who believes the most important aspect of the show is how it gives both attendees and those who exhibit the chance to connect, which for many could be the first time they meet the people behind the brands set to line their shelves; as well as taste a huge range of products all under one roof. Jordan Yallop asked her what can be expected at the upcoming event, due to be held from 21-23 March at ExCeL London.
Philippa, for anyone new to the event, what are the main things they would experience if they were to attend IFE 2022?
Visitors attending IFE in 2022 will have the chance to experience the world’s largest gathering of UK food and drink suppliers. The show is a highly trusted and valued resource for discovering the next major trends and products, for gaining valuable insights from the UK’s leading minds in the food and drink retail on the Future Food stage, and for meeting with international food and drink businesses representing over 100 countries.
For food and drink suppliers, the event is a chance to meet with highly influential buyers from the worlds of retail and wholesale and experts in the import and export market. Businesses can take advantage of the show’s Certification Clinic, Meet the Buyer Programme and can help their products stand out from the crowd by entering the World Food Innovation Awards, which is once again being hosted at the event in partnership with FoodBev Media.
Which of these exhibiting companies or key industry personnel are you projecting will create the biggest buzz in the lead up to the show?
IFE is beloved and trusted by its audience for the variety of quality suppliers that are showcased at each edition of the event. Visitors can expect a curated selection of food and
21-23 March 2022 ExCeL London www.ife.co.uk
drink suppliers, ranging from hugely respected heritage brands like Walkers Shortbread, Royal Greenland and Fentimans to newer businesses like baking subscription service BakedIn and delicious, award-winning plant-based snack supplier Plant Pops, both challenger brands which have introduced inventive and delicious new takes on classic products and services.
IFE will be co-located with IFE Manufacturing, Hotel, Restaurant & Catering (HRC), The Pub Show and The London Produce Show for the first time. Are you excited to be the industry’s largest gathering in the UK?
We’re thrilled to be partnering with all of our sister events for 2022. There’s a huge amount of crossover between the different shows and it’s a significant value add for both our suppliers and buyers as they take valuable time out of the office to join us at ExCeL London.
The launch of IFE Manufacturing is a huge value-add for visitors to IFE who have an interest in new product development, packaging, manufacturing and supply chain trends and the latest exciting ingredients available on the market. With a legacy of over 40 years in the food and drink sector, IFE certainly has experience with monitoring trends. With the challenging events of the last couple of years altering the way buyers and producers operate, what have you brought to IFE 2022 to cater to these changes?
The phrase “necessity is the mother of invention” has never rang truer than in the last two years. As much as it has become an unpopular buzzword, both our suppliers and buyers were forced to pivot and adapt their offering to survive.
On the retail side, big brands arguably had the initial advantage, as having an online shop and a delivery offering became vitally important. But smaller, independent retailers were quick to meet this challenge and consumers were eager to discover new products and support local businesses.
From a supplier side, we’ve seen an explosion of exciting new products entering the market, both from established brands and from a large number of first-time owners of food and drink businesses, bringing long-held dreams to life. It’s a hugely exciting time for the industry and we’ve heard first-hand from the retailers and wholesalers that come to the event saying they can’t wait to discover and taste these new products at IFE in 2022.
Philippa Christer Event Director
We’re supporting our audience through this period of uncertainty by facilitating further innovation, whether that’s through new show areas to help buyers find the product types suited to their changing needs, new networking spaces to enable those all-important face-to-face business connections or fresh new approaches to common challenges from the industry leaders in our seminar programme.
So with these changes in mind, what would you consider to be the newest trends to look out for 2022?
There continues to be rapid growth in the world of meat alternatives, with a huge number of vegan and plant-based options launching across a wide range of product types, from bacon, scotch eggs to caviar. Alongside this, lab-grown or ‘motherless’ meat is certainly on the horizon as an interesting trend to follow.
Innovations aren’t limited to the lab, with many in the new product development space exploring more creative uses for mushrooms, sugar alternatives and underexplored food solutions such as seaweed, kelp and samphire.
Health and wellness is another key trend, particularly with a consumer desire for less processed foods, preferring instead options with limited, natural ingredients.
From the retail side, sustainability is the name of the game, with free refills steadily growing in popularity across food and drink products. Notably ASDA has recently partnered with Craft on Draft to launch a refillable beer service. Ocado also signalled their commitment to working with sustainability-focused brands by launching a dedicated B Corp aisle in early 2021.
Covid-19 completely devastated the trade show industry. At this stage of the pandemic, what actions has IFE taken to ensure guests who physically visit the March event will remain safe?
As events, trade shows are a highly controlled environment, and events have been running securely in the UK and abroad as tried and tested measures have been put in place. The Association of Event Organisers, our official association body, has been collaborating with organisers around the world to ensure a valuable, straightforward and enjoyable experience for trade show attendees and suppliers.
We have spent the past two years planning for a wide range of possibilities for the live events and will implement the most appropriate as the show approaches, in line with government guidelines.
And what particular areas of the food supplier and buyer markets have you seen grow over these recent events?
As I mentioned previously, a key area of growth is vegan and plantbased products, with alternative meat products in particular growing
21-23 March 2022 ExCeL London www.ife.co.uk
rapidly as a product category. According to research by Kantar, from the year 2016 to 2020, the meat-free and plant-based dairy categories doubled in size and are now worth just under £600 million each. We've engaged insightful speakers such as Matthew Glover, founder of Veganuary and Vegan Fried Chicken, and a Veg Capital investor, to discuss how this trend is set to evolve in 2022 and beyond on our Future Food Stage.
In this increasingly crowded marketplace, there has been a huge amount of innovation and new product development, which will be showcased in our all-new Vegan & Plant-Based Section, in partnership with the Vegan Society.
From big name brands in the sector such as The Meatless Farm, Beyond Meat and The Vegetarian Butcher to up-and-coming small businesses like Plant Alternative, this section will represent the full spectrum of businesses in this area.
On the buyer side, food and drink retailers have had to adapt fast to the emergence of speedy grocery businesses such as Getir, Gorillas, Zapp and Weezy, which have grown rapidly and made use of “dark stores” to service consumers.
The focus now is longevity and we’ve been following the recent partnership between Gorillas and Tesco to offer sub-10-minute deliveries with interest. We’ll be examining how to meet these demanding consumer needs more closely on the Future Food Stage at IFE 2022.
Sustainability has been one of the other hottest topics in recent years, do you think this will be a prominent feature of IFE 2022?
Sustainability continues to top the agenda for every industry, and food and drink is no exception. We’ve seen huge growth in the number of B Corp certified businesses and the environmental impact of products is being increasingly measured and quantified, plus retailers and wholesalers are consistently factoring this into their sourcing decisions.
Any new products entering the market are expected to have thought through their supply chain, packaging and ingredient sourcing with sustainability in mind, meanwhile larger, more established brands are taking significant steps to change their processes, offset their emissions and fund NPD and innovation in sustainable packaging and manufacturing.
For retailers, wholesalers and suppliers, food waste is a key issue, with many partnering with charities like City Harvest (one of our key show partners) and Too Good To Go to find a second home for products reaching the end of their shelf life and working to reduce the impact and volume of food waste at every stage of the manufacturing process. IFE 2022’s seminar programme will have a major focus on sustainability and how environmentally focused processes can be implemented at every level of a business.
And the final question, what is the main message you would like to share to the readers of Inside Food & Drink about this upcoming event?
IFE 2022 will be the industry’s first chance in over three years to gather together and meet face to face. Anyone who’s anyone in the world of food and drink will either be on the stage, on a stand or on the show floor.
Don’t miss this opportunity to meet with over 1,500 suppliers, meet and learn from your peers, gain invaluable insights into the trends of tomorrow and ready your business for the next stage of its evolution. For food and drink professionals serious about success, IFE is a must-attend. n
