Food Africa 2022: Number of international exhibitors is rising

On December 5 - 7, Fructidor attended one of the largest food industry events in Africa, Food Africa 2022. Our editorial team had an opportunity to chat with Mr. Tamer Safwat, the founder of Konzept, the company responsible for the trade show’s organization.

 

Fructidor: “Mr. Safwat, what is your opinion on this edition of Food Africa which just finished? 

 

Mr. Tamer Safwat: “This is our 7th edition, and it goes quite well. I remember when my partner Dalia Kabeel and I started in 2015, we were thinking about what to offer to our food sector. Considering that we’ve been both working in the sector for over 25 years, we knew it was important to establish our show as a regional event, to serve Middle Asia, Africa, Middle East. This is why, since year one, the show has a regional influence. Today, we partner with IFP, Lebanon and Messe Düsseldorf from Germany. So, now we are three international entities working together.”

 

Fructidor: “How many visitors do you usually have here? Where do they come from?”

 

Mr. Tamer Safwat: “The more international presence we have as exhibitors, the more international visitors we obtain. This is our number one rule. We have always invested our own budget to invite VIP Buyers. This year, we had additional support from the Egyptian government to invite more buyers, so we had over 500 hosted buyers as a total. Last year there were some 350 buyers completely funded by our own budget. It’s not a PR activity, it’s pure business. In the last six editions, 35 to 40% of our buyers were coming from Africa, another 40% from Arab countries, and 20% from the Far East, Europe, and USA. This year, because we were more focused on the fresh sector, we had to focus on our main markets in the EU, Middle Asia, and the Far East. So, we increased the percentage of European companies, as well as of those from the UK, and from the Far East, like India and Bangladesh.”

 

Fructidor: “What about the fresh fruit sector?”

 

Mr. Tamer Safwat: “In 2022, we have created two new areas in our show: Fresh Africa to bring together the offer concerning fresh fruit and vegetables, and Dates Africa for the dates sector. The first feedback from both exhibitors and visitors is excellent, and we plan to develop these areas in next year's editions. As for exhibitors, we had approximately 100 exhibitors in the Fresh Africa & Dates Africa. Egyptian exporters, farmers were present and also Saudi Arabian, Jordan, Polish, etc... As for Buyers, we have 20 to 25% of hosted buyers involved in the fresh fruit/veg sector.”

 

Fructidor: “Do you have any particular plans for the next editions?”

 

Mr. Tamer Safwat: “Our plan for the next year, besides strengthening the presence of African visitors, is to bring more international exhibitors from the fresh sector. This year was a trial, which was quite successful, we had exhibitors coming also from Poland and Russia.”

 

 

 

 

If you wish to cooperate with Konzept, send your inquiry today

 

 

 

 

© Copyright 2011 - Fructidor International - All rights reserved.