SIAL CANADA CONNECT OFFERS UNIQUE INSIGHTS, SAYS SIAL CANADA CEO
SIAL Canada will be taking place online again this year, due to Covid restrictions, but this event will be different. Instead of a virtual trade show, like the one hosted in 2020, the organisation is hosting SIAL Canada Connect – a series of conferences which celebrate SIAL Canada’s 20th anniversary by reflecting on the past and looking to the future of food innovation.
Taking place on September 21st, SIAL Canada Connect will be introduced by Canada’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, André Lamontagne, and will feature four conferences by internationally renowned specialists in food innovation. They will give an overview of the Canadian market, and unique insights, while also covering the hottest trends in food and consumer habits.
The first conference will focus on the economic outlook for the food industry and will explore how food consumption patterns have shifted. It will also consider what kind of performance should be expected from the Canadian food industry going forward.
The second conference will review the major trends that produced disruptive products that impacted the Canadian food business over the past two decades, while the third will ask what is next in the future of food innovation.
The fourth will seek to understand and anticipate consumers’ health imperatives and will consider how companies can adapt and evolve to encourage consumers to eat more healthily.
CEO & General Director
Finally, before closing, the winners of 2021 Alizes Awards will be announced.
Speaking exclusively to SIAL Newsroom, SIAL Canada CEO & General Director Xavier Poncin commented: “The Canada Connect event has been specially curated to offer unique insights into the Canadian food industry and consumer habits, and will be valuable for anyone looking to get into this market. The SIAL brand is based on three pillars – Innovation, International representation and Local representation. We can’t focus so heavily on the latter two so we’re really focusing on innovation this year.”
“For our 20th Anniversary we wanted to offer something special, and something more suited to the online format than a traditional trade show which inevitably works better when people can meet in person. We are expecting around 1,500 participants from around 35 countries and we’re looking forward to sharing this fantastic content.”
Poncin added that although a virtual event couldn’t, and will never, replace a physical trade show, there could be benefits to a hybrid between the two. He commented: “One benefit of having the trade show online last year, and with the Connect event this year, is that we can extend the reach of the SIAL Canada brand way beyond our borders and also connect with people who we might not have been able to connect with otherwise. Another thing that is great about having conferences online, is that you are not limited by the capacity of a room, so you can have many more people take part.
“That said, we can’t wait to come back bigger and better than ever next year and welcome visitors, though there will be virtual elements. The trade show industry is evolving. It used to be simply about having a stand and selling products but over the years great content, workshops and live demonstrations and tastings have become more important. Trade shows need to be offering this full package and that’s what we will be doing next year.”
Poncin concluded by saying that the big message is that SIAL Canada will return strongly and in its physical format in April 2022, “and we hope to attract even more exhibitors than in previous years,” Poncin said. “I also can’t wait to come to SIAL Paris and see my counterparts there and worldwide,” he added.
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