POLAGRA 2019 - summary

The entire event consisted of POLAGRA FOOD (International Trade Fair for Food), POLAGRA-TECH (International Trade Fair of Food Technologies) and POLAGRA GASTRO AND INVEST HOTEL (International Fair for Food, Catering Products and Hotel Equipment). At the same time, visitors could see the offer presented at TAROPAK (International Trade Fair for Packaging and Labelling Technology). These exhibitions took over the entire area of the Poznań International Fair and presented the visitors with a look into the future of the food industry. - The group of fair guests included many people, who shape the industry, such us Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Wiesław Łyszczyk, the Chief Inspector of the National Labour Inspectorate as well as CEO's and directors of all prominent associations and institutions of the industry. The program of the fair included many conferences, meetings, trainings, competitions and prestigious gala events - including Polish Culinary Cup, Know Good Food, MTP Gold Medal, Master Class Show, Hotel Marketing Conference. - reports Dariusz Wawrzyniak, Director of Product Group at the Poznań International Fair.

FOOD 

POLAGRA FOOD is mainly an annual summary of achievements of Polish providing products that meet the expectations of modern consumers. The exhibition was dominated by the dairy sector, which provides products for a significant part of Polish society and which increasingly expands its activities to abroad markets. According to the latest data, the export of dairy products increased in the first quarter by 3.3% to 1.13 billion litres of raw milk. The growth was generated by sale of milk, yogurts and other milk drinks, as well as cream and ice cream. Polish dairy products are appreciated for their high quality. This is confirmed by many MTP Gold Medals awarded to dairy products such as bio butter, ripened cheese or cream.

A significant part of POLAGRA FOOD exhibition consisted of "Polish Meat" stand, managed by the Association of Polish Butchers and Producers of Processed Meat. It offered various brands of meat products manufactured by Polish companies. The meat offer was complemented by the Forum of Butchery, Meat Processing and Cookery, which promoted Polish pork (in 2018 export of pork from Poland increased by 4.4% to 505,000 tonnes). The expert group discussed the nutritional qualities of meat and its important role in the human diet. Master chefs advertised the products by offering their specialities.

POLAGRA FOOD hosted also exhibitors producing sweets, salty snacks, fruit and vegetable dishes, ready-to-eat products, coffee, tea and alcohol. This group include both Polish and foreign producers, including companies from Italy, Hungary, Romania, Indonesia, Germany, France and Croatia.

POLAGRA FOOD was accompanied by training sessions and lectures addressed to both food manufacturers and distributors. A record-breaking attendance of over 100 fair participants was noted at the meeting on the rules for labelling food products. Many representatives of the food industry were also very interested in the meeting that presented the development prospects of plant products. This confirms a deep awareness of the increasing popularity of 'vege' trends and opportunities they create for manufacturers. We hope that in the next year we will present at the Poznan International Fair more new products, which meet the needs of consumers limiting meat in their diet. - said Marcin Gorynia, project director.

FOODTECH

Polagra Tech 2019 has just ended and we may conclude that the largest exhibition of the fair focused on meat and fish technologies. It was accompanied by a wide range of other food technologies and products. Many training sessions, demonstrations and presentations were held, providing new technological and organizational solutions, ideas and legal knowledge.

It was a fair that presented not only technical and technological solutions for the food industry, but it also provided entrepreneurs with knowledge on investing and developing their businesses. POLAGRA TECH was a place, where everyone could see the market innovations It was a space for discussions and solutions for investments in processing of food products.  The visitors of POLAGRA TECH were offered with free training sessions on Industry 4.0, AI in the industry, monitoring, industrial costs optimization and control. "New dimension of food safety" was a free training on responsible development of production and mitigation of food risks associated.  A series of trainings and lectures at POLAGRA TECH was inaugurated by the conference organised by National Labour Inspectorate and entitled "Prevention of accident risks and good practices in the meat processing sector." Many experts present at the fair provided their advice for technical solutions in refrigeration and air conditioning systems, water treatment, as well as for legal regulations on refrigerants and waste management

As always, POLAGRA TECH was a bustling factory producing great food. Only the MTP fairgrounds could offer visitors the opportunity to see real and functioning production lines, which were installed for four day of the fair. This enabled representatives of many companies to carry out detailed discussions and also visualized manufacturing processes, facilitating the talks on operation and maintenance.  Once again, POLAGRA TECH became the center of good food production and a source of knowledge on the future manufacturing methods that meet the demands of consumers.

For us, the time spent on business meetings with exhibitors and visitors is a valuable source of information about the industry, which we use to improve our operations and prepare the next successful edition of the fair. The main theme of the next year's POLAGRA TECH will be the Exhibition of Bakery and Confectionery Technologies and in two years it will be followed by the Exhibition of Meat and Fish Production Technologies. Every year, we expand the Exhibition of Food Technologies which has a huge impact on the production potential, health and safety of the entire food industry - summarises Joanna Jasińska, Project Director.

HORECA

POLAGRA GASTRO / INVEST HOTEL is an event eagerly anticipated by a wide range of restaurant managers, caterers, chefs and hoteliers. Its popularity grows together with the dynamically developing market of professional kitchen equipment and modern technologies dedicated to optimal management of restaurants and hotels. Great interest of visitors was noted particularly on stands of companies that offered products awarded with MTP Gold Medals. Fair visitors were attracted by applications for on-line order management and by the device, which prepares scrambled eggs, porridge and soups using pressurized steam. This machine may become a bestseller among owners and managers of hotels and restaurants, as it is simple in operation and prepares healthy food.

It is worth noting that this year's exhibition presented also the equipment for hotels including furniture and textiles. One of the fair exhibitors was Vispring, a London-based company, which manufactures luxury beds since 1901. Its products are among the most luxurious and comfortable beds in the world and they have been used in numerous hotels and ocean liners, including Titanic and Queen Mary.

POLAGRA GASTRO / INVEST HOTEL fair offers also a lot of events, where visitors may learn how to achieve the perfect taste of food and beverages or how to manage own, profitable catering business that meet the expectations of modern consumers. A large group of guests visited Coffee Village, which presented innovative solutions in coffee-making and shared the knowledge about coffee and its brewing methods. The zone of MasterClass also enjoyed full audience, as the master chefs revealed their secrets of working with various food products. The conference rooms were used for sharing expert knowledge on managing the catering staff and finances, consumer trends and prospects for the development of the hotel sector.

But the he most dynamic place of the fair, filled with emotions, was the competition zone, which attracted numerous visitors every day. The competitions started on Monday, September 30, with the final of WorldSkills Poland, won by Bartosz Wicherek, who represented Poland in "Cooking" contest during EuroSkills 2020, the biggest European competition for young professionals held in Graz, Austria.

The final of Polish Culinary Cup, organised during the next two days, made the competition zone the most important point on the map Polish gastronomy. Ten cooking teams competed for a place on the podium, after being selected in the qualifying competitions that started last October across Poland. This qualification process ensures impartiality and guarantees the presence of the best professionals at the Polish Culinary Cup. They are dedicated chefs, full of culinary ideas, and perfect in their cooking skills - said Agnieszka Glamowska manager of the Polish Culinary Cup.

Each of the qualified teams prepared 3 dishes using provided products. The International Jury, chaired by Jarosław Walczyk, assessed the competitors of the Polish Culinary Cup and awarded the best notes to Bartosz Kozłowski and Michał Kozłowski, who represented Nifty no.20 Puro Hotel in Poznan. This team was followed by Paweł Kubera and Paweł Żurkowski from DeSilva Premium Hotel in Poznan (second place) and Marcin Nowak and Maciej Małecki from Puro Hotel Warsaw (third place).

The last day in the competition zone was really colourful, as it was decorated with works prepared by the participants of the Polish Carving Cup.

Every year, POLAGRA FOOD, POLAGRA TECH, POLAGRA GASTRO and INVEST HOTEL fairs provide an excellent opportunity for meeting potential business partners, exchanging opinions, presenting new products, strengthening business relationships and establishing new ones. Their importance for the food industry and HoReCa market is proven by the presence of decision-makers from leading brands of the retail trade, restaurants and hotels. This year, the list of exhibition guests included many representatives of major brands, such as Jeronimo Martins, Żabka SA, Kaufland, Auchan, Carrefour, IKEA, Puro Hotel, Wąsowo Palace, Copernicus Hotel and Gołębiewski Hotel.

Next year's edition of the fair will take place from September 28 to October 1.