New Food Conference will be at the 2021 Anuga food fair

The New Food Conference will be a part of next year’s Anuga food fair in Germany and the focus will be on the topic of alternative and cultivated proteins.

Hosted on 10 and 11 October 2021 within Anuga’s larger four-day festival, the food fair invites decision-makers from the food sector to look ahead at the future and discuss emerging trends within the industry.

The conference in Cologne will place particular emphasis on plant-based meat and milk and cheese alternatives, which have experienced unparalleled growth over the past years.

It is estimated that the global market for plant-based products will be US$74 billion (AU$103 billion) in 2027, with an annual growth rate of 12%.

Another topic of discussion will be cultivated proteins and the sustainable production of animal products.

Cellular agriculture, which is the idea of the sustainable production of animal products without the many problematic consequences associated with animal husbandry, has been the focus of investors for some time.

The New Food Conference will discuss how these products will become an essential element of our future food sources.

Katleen Haefele, a spokesperson for international food awareness organisation ProVeg, said cultivated proteins have huge potential to satisfy the growing hunger of the world’s population for animal products in a resource-saving manner.

“We are delighted to have such a strong partner as Anuga at our side, with whom we can jointly push forward innovative and future themes,” Haefele said.

“The cooperation with the leading food trade fair is once again turning alternative proteins into the centre of attention of the food industry.”

In addition to cellular agriculture, fermentation processes and the possibility of hybrid products comprising plant-based and cell-cultivated elements will be a different theme of the conference.

Anuga Director Stefanie Mauritz said the event will serve as the perfect enhancement to the New Food Conference in April in Berlin, which will focus on the developments of the rapidly expanding market for plant-based proteins.

“Plant-based foodstuffs are experiencing a true boom — not only as alternatives to meat but also as an elementary health and fitness component. Year after year here at Anuga, we have also recorded a stronger growth in the number of exhibitors in this segment,” Mauritz said.

“We are thus delighted that together with ProVeg, we are for the first time placing an even greater focus on this theme in the scope of the New Food Conference at Anuga 2021,” she said.

“As the world’s largest trade fair for food and beverages as well as being a trend and innovation platform, we can thus set important impulses with regards to the key future themes of the industry.”

The conference was staged for the first time in 2019 to offer international representatives of the food industry an exchange platform and to further the development of alternative proteins.

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