Post Show Report Prodexpo 2021
28th edition of the International Exhibition for Food, Beverages and Food Raw Materials
The largest in Russia and Eastern Europe international exhibition for food, beverages and food raw materials, Prodexpo 2021, showcased an extensive range of food from everyday basics and drinks to gourmet delicacies, as well as organic, sports nutrition, nutrition for a healthy lifestyle, halal, kosher, exotic products, and spirits and wines. The exhibition delighted food market professionals with a number of premieres in all sectors of the exhibition.
Prodexpo 2021 was a perfect meeting place for leading food and beverage producers and suppliers from all over the world. It was attended by a great number of buyers from federal and regional chains, retail and HoReCa businesses.
Dates: 12–16 April 2021
Venue: EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds, Moscow, Russia
Organised by EXPOCENTRE AO
Supported by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture
Under auspices of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Exhibition area: 85,000+ gross sq m
Attendance: 50,280 visitors from 95 countries and 86 regions of Russia
Total number of exhibitors: 1,554 companies (1,307 of them were Russian)
Countries: 44
Foreign national pavilions: 10 (Armenia, Brazil, Italy, South Ossetia, Spain, Serbia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Uruguay, Sri Lanka)
Russian regional pavilions and group stands: 32 regions (representing the total number of 250 companies from the Republics of Adygea, Altai, Bashkortostan, Mordovia and Tatarstan, Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs, Altai, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Primorsky and Stavropol Krais, Arkhangelsk, Chelyabinsk, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Kirov, Kostroma, Leningrad, Moscow, Omsk, Penza, Tambov, Tula, Tver, Ulyanovsk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Voronezh and Yaroslavl Oblasts, and the City of Saint-Petersburg (companies from Krasnodar Krai and Ryazan Oblast took part in the show with the assistance from their respective regional authorities).
General Sponsor
Strategic Media Partner
Alexey Vyalkin, Acting Director General of EXPOCENTRE AO
“Despite the objectively difficult economic situation in Russia and the world, Prodexpo 2021 brought together an impressive group of exhibitors and turned out to be large-scale and very interesting. Thirty product sectors presented all segments of the Russian and foreign food market. The show offered professionals and visitors alike a range of new products and innovations.”
The official opening ceremony was attended by First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Agriculture and Food Policy and Environmental Management Sergey Mitin, President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergey Katyrin, member of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Vladimir Katenyov, Acting Director General of EXPOCENTRE AO Alexey Vyalkin, Deputy Director of the Food and Food Processing Industry Department of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture Vladimir Skvortsov, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Chuvash Republic – Plenipotentiary Representative of the Chuvash Republic to the President of the Russian Federation Petr Chekmarev, Head of the Russian Quality System Maksim Protasov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic to the Russian Federation Pasquale Terracciano, and Director of ICE Moscow Representative Office Francesco Pensabene. Other attendees included heads of diplomatic missions of Brazil, Indonesia, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, and Serbia, and other top level officials.
Sergey Katyrin, President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
“Today, Prodexpo 2021 provides a great opportunity to meet face-to-face. There are so many entrepreneurs from Russian regions at the exhibition. They have achieved considerable success, and today there is an opportunity not only to see what they have done, but also to compare their products with foreign ones."
The exhibition was a perfect place for generation of business leads. A strategic cooperation agreement in the field of educational and research development between the National Union of Meat Processors and the Razumovsky Moscow State University of Technologies and Management was signed after the Prodexpo official opening ceremony. Now students from one of the Russian leading food universities will have an opportunity to undertake practical training at state-of-the-art facilities.
Maxim Protasov, Head of Roskachestvo
“Among the exhibitors at Prodexpo 2021, there are quite a few companies which have been tested under the government's Quality Award and received the government's quality mark. I am positive that the number of such companies will increase every year, because the main interest of Roskachevo, the Russian government and consumers is to ensure that only quality food products reach the retail shelves.”
Prodexpo 2021 was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Nikola Selakovic, Deputy Chair of the Cabimet of Ministers of the Chuvash Republic – Agriculture Minister Sergey Artamonov, and other special guests.
Show highlights
The Italian national pavilion was the largest one with 32 companies bringing olives, olive oil, coffee, confectionery, groceries, and wine.
Francesco Pensabene, Director of ICE Moscow Representative Office
“Prodexpo is the main event for Italian suppliers. For Russian consumers, the Italian cuisine means, first of all, great taste, healthy eating, and rich food production traditions and gastronomic traditions. Italy has once again confirmed that it maintains its important presence on the Russian market and at the Prodexpo exhibition.”
The range of products displayed by Russian regional pavilions was broad and varied: meat, dairy products, cheese, groceries, fish, tea, coffee, ice-cream, healthy products, functional nutrition and biotechnology, as well as different equipment, services, and packaging solutions for the food industry.
This year, despite the pandemic related restrictions, Prodexpo has kept its position as the main show and networking platform of the food industry.
All 30 product sectors performed really well showcasing a wide range of both Russian and foreign high quality products.
The Meat and Meat Products. Cooked Meats. Poultry, Eggs sector welcomed about 100 companies including major holdings and small companies from different regions of Russia. In addition to Russian exhibitors, Belarus companies also deserved attention. The sector’s display featured a variety of meats: beef, including marbled beef, pork, lamb, venison and horse meat, as well as poultry: chicken, duck, turkey, and quail meat.
The Dairy Products. Cheese sector featured more than 130 companies from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Serbia. There were products made from cow’s, goat's and sheep's milk, as well as plant based products. The exhibitors showcased a wide range of dairy, fermented dairy and cottage cheese products, butter, spreads, chocolate butter, ghee, caviar butter, and rillettes. Companies from Russian regions demonstrated great accomplishments in cheese production.
More than 300 companies took part in the sector of Confectionery. Snacks. Nuts. Dried Fruit. Bakery. Russian companies dominated in this sector but there were also the industry’s leading companies from Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Colombia, France, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Poland, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.
More than 30 companies from Russia, Italy, Peru, Spain, and Turkey showed their certified organic products in in the Prodexpo Organic sector. New products were showcased by the world’s largest producers of certified organic products such as Red Mill (Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods, the USA), Natur Import+, Sardes, as well as leaders of the Russian organic market Shulgino (Ì2) and Story in Bogimovo.
ProdexpoWINE welcomed about 200 companies, which demonstrated elite alcohol, brandy, infusions, wine, beer, including craft beer, low alcoholic drinks, and cider, which has been really trendy recently. Participants in master classes within The Russian Wine Corner. The Centre of Wine Culture presented Russia’s new wine projects.
Other sectors with a wide range of products were Groceries. Cereals. Pasta. Spices, Kitchen Herbs, Products for Healthy Lifestyle, Tea. Coffee, and Juices. Mineral Water. Soft Drinks.
As ususal, Prodexpo showcased interesting solutions and equipment for food and beverage manufactures: quality control systems for semi-finished and finished products, packaging equipment, labelling and marking equipment, as well as a large range of cheese coatings and coating equipment.
EXPOCENTRE AO and the Afina Recruitment Agency arranged Prodexpo’s Employment Centre, which helped employers to find staff and jobseekers to find work. In addition, the centre's staff advised on today's most relevant issues such as telecommuting and part-time work, the interest of Moscow employers in employees from other Russian regions, and upgrading of the staff qualifications.
Experts of Rossouyzkholodprom offered consultations to the exhibitors and visitors in the Counselling Centre for Refrigeration Technology about the introduction of modern equipment, technological solutions and innovations that made it possible to save the maximum amount of products during processing, delivery and storage.
Retail.ru, Prodexpo’s official media partner in 2021, recorded 101 interviews with exhibitors and visitors free of charge in the Retail.ru Press Centre. The interviewees talked about their companies and projects. All recorded interviews were published on the Video page of Retail.ru, and Facebook and YouTube accounts of Retail.ru.
A Business Centre and a MatchMaking area were organised for talks in a comfortable environment.
Event programme
The event programme focused on the problems of development and growth of the Russian food market, and its current needs and conditions. In order to ensure wide coverage of foreign and Russian regional professional audiences, the events were organised in a hybrid format (offline events with video broadcasting and the possibility of connecting speakers remotely). The events proved to be very beneficial for food market professionals.
The programme was opened with the Plenary Session on the Trends of the Food and Beverage Market 2021. How has the pandemic changed the market, and what can we do about it? It was organised by the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, EXPOCENTRE AO, the Russian Quality System (Roskachestvo), and RBC. Director of the Department for the Development of Domestic Trade of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade Nikita Kuznetsov summed up last year's results and made forecasts for the industry's development in 2021. First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Agriculture and Food Policy and Environmental Management Sergey Mitin drew attention to the pricing structure in the food sector. Head of Roskachestvo Maxim Protasov spoke about the quality of food products and highlighted four key trends for 2021: demand for natural, fresh products, omnichanneling, conscious consumption and expectation of state support from consumers. Other participants were Vice President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Maksim Fateev, Chairman of the Presidium of the Retail Companies Association Sergey Belyakov, Executive Director of Rusprodsoyuz Dmitry Vostrikov, and General Director of the Industry Development Centre of the Leningrad Region Vera Shtokailo. The session participants discussed measures to increase investments in the food industry, production, export and import of Russian food products, and the role of industry unions in the dialogue between government and business.
Watch the video broadcast >>
The Panel on Legitimacy of Organic Products. The First Year Results of the Federal Law on Organic Products was organised by Roskachestvo, the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and EXPOCENTRE AO. Its participants included Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Maksim Uvaidov, Deputy Head of Roskachevo Elena Saratseva, Head of the Agroexport Federal Centre Dmitry Krasnov, and representatives of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rosselkhozbank, and industry associations. Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Agriculture and Food Policy, and Environmental Management Sergey Belousov, addressing the panel participants via video link, highlighted the importance of increasing consumer confidence in organic products. It is necessary to establish close cooperation with retail chains and to allocate separate shelves for it, and in the future to create specialised stores. Russian organic products should become a transparent and profitable business for farmers, and a model of high quality for consumers in Russia and abroad.
The participants discussed the first year results of the Federal Law on Organic Products developed by the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, different measures to support exports of organic products, increase their relevance in the retail trade, and other relevant issues.
The participants in the Conference on Organic Products: New Meanings and Value for the Public, organised by the LookBio Info Portal and EXPOCENTRE AO, discussed benefits of organic products, different aspects of organics development in plant and animal production, and other topics. Foreign colleagues shared their views and experience via video link. Among them were President of IFOAM International Peggy DeMorrow Miares and major German organic expert Gerald Herrmann. The programme was concluded with the Panel “Eat Organic – Do Good Deeds. How Can New Meanings Become a Boost for Organic Industry Development in Russia?” The conference was concluded with the Prodexpo Organic award ceremony.
Watch the video broadcast >>
The Business Conference on the Relevant Trends and Development Tools of the Food Market brought together members of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Russian regional chambers of commerce and industry, and representatives of Russian federal and regional authorities.
Welcome addresses were made by Acting Director General of EXPOCENTRE AO Alexey Vyalkin, Vice President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dmitry Kurochkin, and Chairman of the Council for Financial, Industrial and Investment Policy of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vladimir Gamza.
Mr. Vyalkin spoke about the main activities of EXPOCENTRE AO and the opportunities the company offers to promote Russian brands, attract potential investors, and make Russian business more international. Mr. Kurochkin spoke about the capacities of the system of chambers of commerce and industry to protect the interests of business in various industry sectors and regions of Russia, and the work of committees and councils of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry at federal, regional and municipal levels. Mr. Gamza illustrated this with the example of one of the chamber's public units, the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Council for Financial, Industrial and Investment Policy.
Watch the video broadcast >>
The traditional Annual Panel on Russian Hospitality was organised by the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry jointly with the Russian State University of Tourism and Services and EXPOCENTRE AO. The topic of discussions was gastronomic souvenirs: shaping tourist impressions.
Welcoming remarks were made by First Deputy Director General of EXPOCENTRE AO Sergey Selivanov and Deputy Director of the Exhibition, Fair and Congress Department of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Viktoria Kalinina. Rector of the Russian State University of Tourism and Services Alexander Fedulin, who also moderated the panel, Deputy Head of the Russian Quality System Yulia Mikhaleva and other experts reported on the current state of the sector.
At the panel, experts and speakers discussed the prospects and specifics of creating gastronomic souvenirs in Russia, considered best practices of creating high-quality domestic tourism products taking into account gastronomic traditions and national characteristics of the regions, shared their successful experience in promoting tasty souvenir products, and discussed marketing strategies for supporting regional food brands.
The event was concluded with an award ceremony for the winners of the professional tourism competitions Taste Experience 2020, Tourism Brand: Best Practices 2020, Best Tourism Portal 2020, and Professional Competition of Guides, Tourist Maps and SMART Applications for Russia.
Watch the video broadcast >>
The Conference on Food of the Future was devoted to healthy eating as a basis for healthy lifestyle. The event was organised by EXPOCENTRE AO and the Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Biotechnology.
Alla Pogozheva, Doctor of Medicine, Professor, Leading Researcher in Nutrition Demography and Epidemiology at the Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Biotechnology, devoted her report to the specifics of diets based on plant and animal products. According to her, a healthy diet should be mainly vegetarian. Presentations by other expert speakers focused on the use of pharmaceutical approaches in developing the food of the future, innovative fat products, the future of the food market with an emphasis on fortification, the personalisation of individual diets tailored to the individual's needs, and other topics. Various aspects of healthy nutrition and dietetics, functional nutrition, as well as the prospects for the development of innovative technologies in food production were also discussed.
Watch the video broadcast >>
One of the most important events was the 16th Russian Food Forum for Suppliers for Retail Chains, which included the Centre of Retail Chains™, Purchasing Centre for Retail Chains™, and Purchasing Centre for Retail Chains™: HoReCa. The events were organised by Imperia Forum and EXPOCENTRE AO.
The Purchasing Centre for Retail Chains™ brought together 92 federal and regional retail chains including Auchan, Magnit, Perekrestok, VkusVill, Magnolia, Verny, SPAR, and many others. In total, the Purchasing Centre for Retail Chains™ accommodated 205 buyers and more than 230 suppliers who had about 4,500 direct talks about delivering products under manufacturer, supplier and private label brands.
Suppliers are getting increasingly interested in restaurant chains despite the pandemic and the 2020 crisis in the catering market. Prodexpo helped 20 restaurant and cafe chains to update their food ranges and supplier pool in the Purchasing Centre for Retail Chains™: HoReCa. The participants included Subway, Chaihona, Azbuka Vkusa, Sushi Wok, Topchan, Macaronika, and many others.
Other events included Supplier Matrix of Prodexpo 2021, the 25th Russian Food Forum on PLB 2021, and the 4th Russian Conference on Success Recipes for a Food Store.
Well-known analysts and experts talked about impactful sales strategies in 2021-2022. They also draw attention to the changing habits of Russian consumers during the pandemic, which dictated changes in retailing and demands for suppliers.
AlcoHall: Supply Negotiations 2021 was organised for the first time by Imperia Forum jointly with EXPOCENTRE AO for retail chains and suppliers of alcoholic beverages. The event consisted of three parts. A practical conference was held with the participation of buyers from X5, Pyatyorochka, SPAR Kaliningrad, Gradusy Vsego Mira, Khoroshiy Vybor and COOP Slovakia. An analytical session was organised with leading research and brand agencies (GfK Rus, Express Review, Blanca Nera). Negotiations with purchasers were also held within panels on supply to retail chains, where everyone had the opportunity to present their products and exchange contacts. AlcoHall: Supply Negotiations was attended by over 100 alcohol market suppliers and Prodexpo exhibitors.
The participants in the Russian Conference on Modern Food Packaging 2021 discussed the situation on the packaging solutions market, needs of customers and end-users, new tools for expanding sales channels, methods for improving product properties, and technologies for optimising production processes. Deputy Chair of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry Committee on Entrepreneurship in the Agriculture Industry and CEO of Petrova 5 Consulting Marina Petrova spoke about the current relevant trends in food packaging such as polarisation of demand, environmental friendliness, and mini packages.
The main topics of the 16th Russian Conference on the Alcoholic Beverages Market – AlcoCongress 2020 and 7th Wine Forum were social accountability of the alcohol market participants, advertisement and information, and online trade.
The events were attended by heads of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, and the Eurasian Economic Commission, as well as legislators and representatives of regional authorities. Industry experts, leading producers and suppliers of alcohol products discussed a wide range of topics related to the development and regulation of the Russian alcohol market. The in-depth discussions provided a comprehensive analysis of the situation in the industry, looked at the government regulation, the problems of investment in the alcohol industry, as well as practical tools for market operators, including marketing, finance, and analytics.
The Wine Forum participants focused on discussing wine culture under the conditions of bans and restrictions on alcohol advertising, as well as the prospects for allowing online sales of alcohol, possible mechanisms for controlling the legality of alcohol distributed via the Internet, and other topics of concern to the industry.
The AlcoCongress and Wine Forum ended with an awards ceremony for the winners of the Prodexpo Wine Guide professional competition.
Watch the video broadcast>>
Successful practices of exporters to Europe, China, the USA, Africa and the Middle East were highlighted at the Best Practice from the experts of Export and Import 2021.
Watch the video broadcast>>
Expo Market Equipment organised the Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Food Production. Director of the Gorbatov Federal Research Centre for Food Systems of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oksana Kuznetsova spoke about the relevance of the food production automation, which would help companies to reach a new level of production. She also highlighted such trends as online food sales and the impact of digitalisation on product quality. Anna Prozorova, Commercial Director of Matller, continued the theme of implementing artificial intelligence in production. She told in detail about IT technologies managed to change business processes in the food production.
Professional competitions attracted a lot of participants.
The Prodexpo Organic Awards was organised by LookBio Media OOO with support from EXPOCENTRE AO.
See the winners>>
The 16th
International Competition for the Best Packaging and Label for Foodstuffs, Perfumes, Cosmetics and Beverages ProdExtraPack 2021 was organised by the National Confederation of Packers, the Tara i Upakovka (Packaging) Magazine.
See the winners>>
The Choice of Retail Chains Competition was organised by EXPOCENTRE AO, Imperia Forum.
See the winners>>
The Innovative Product Competition was organised by EXPOCENTRE AO, Imperia Forum.
See the winners>>
The Prodexpo Wine Competition & Guide was organised by Alcoexpert Group, EXPOCENTRE AO.
See the winners>>
The 23rd
International Prodexpo Tasting Competition was organised by Stolichny Stil OOO, EXPOCENTRE AO.
See results>>
The Competition for the Best Consumer Properties was organised by Souzexpertiza ANO of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry jointly with EXPOCENTRE AO.
See results>>
The Best Product 2021 International Competition was organised by Agroexposervis, the Competition Tasting Committee.
See results>>
You can find the exhibitor and visitor feedback about Prodexpo 2021 in the show’s video diary.
The 29th edition of the Prodexpo International Exhibition will run at EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds, Moscow, Russia, on 7–11 February 2022.
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Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO