Anuga FoodTec postponed to April 2022 due to pandemic

Global food and beverage industry event Anuga FoodTec will not go ahead next year because of the pandemic and the associated travel and event restrictions, event organisers Koelnmesse announced.

Originally scheduled for March 2021 over four days in Cologne, Germany, the next Anuga FoodTec will take place from 26 to 29 April the following year.

Oliver Frese, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse, said the organisers sincerely regret that they had to postpone Anuga FoodTec until 2022 despite good preparation and encouragement from the industry.

“In the past few weeks, however, it has become apparent that there is growing scepticism and concern among all involved. As a result, many companies have pulled out given the infection situation and current uncertainty,” Frese said.

“However, Anuga FoodTec cannot take place without the important key factors of internationality and cross-industry participation. With this in mind, we have responded to the industry’s wish to postpone the trade fair with the new date.

“The new event date is the best possible solution, taking into consideration the international trade fair calendar, and the available time and space capacities. This allows us to provide the industry with a vision and planning security.”

The organisers said the trade fair will take place as a hybrid event in 2022, combining both an in-person and digital platform.

“The addition of a digital platform to the physical component creates the foundation for as many people as possible from Germany and abroad to have access to the latest technologies and processes in the food and beverage industry and for promoting sustainable networking within the industry,” Koelnmesse said in a statement.

Simone Schiller, Managing Director of industry participant German Agricultural Society’s (DLG) Food Technology Center, said the company is sad not to have the event this year as it usually offers a platform for professional exchange across industry boundaries.

“We are therefore even more pleased that in spring 2022 Anuga FoodTec will once again be the meeting place for the international food technology and supplier industry under the guiding theme ‘Smart Solutions — Higher Flexibility’,” Schiller said.

Image supplied by Anuga FoodTec.