SIAL Paris Celebrates 60 Years of Food Industry Innovation at SIAL Paris 2024

“Bon appétit!” was the headline of the local “Ouest-France” newspaper at the opening of the first “International Food Exhibition” held in November 1964 at the futuristic CNIT. The shell-shaped concrete exhibition building was a symbol of French economic prosperity and confidence in the future. The inaugural event attracted a wide array of international foods and experts from 26 countries, making it an important event open to the general public at a time when French households spent a third of their budget on food.

60 years later, the organizers are preparing for the anniversary of the world’s largest food industry fair, SIAL Paris 2024, which will open its doors from October 19 to 23 at the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center. On this anniversary, industry professionals will not only look back on six decades of revolutionary innovations but also gain insights into the future of the ever-evolving food sector. Examining 60 years of innovation is the best way to understand what will shape the food economy of tomorrow.

As Audrey Ashworth, the director of SIAL Paris, stated:

“This year, we are preparing numerous innovations to create an even more dynamic and attractive anniversary event. For example, we are enhancing the startup hub to provide more assistance from the outset: we offer a new product innovation discovery experience, improve the layout of the exhibition space to make navigation easier and more efficient, and provide opportunities for large-scale discussions on key issues affecting the sector. Naturally, there will be several celebrations for the 60th anniversary. Overall, the year 2024 promises to be more promising and richer than ever in both business and inspiration.”

Looking Back and the Fair’s New Layout

This year, SIAL Paris focuses on looking back, with a forward-looking perspective through the theme “Own the Change,” a collective movement encouraging industry professionals to engage with ongoing changes and address the world’s major food challenges.

Related to this, SIAL Paris aims to highlight the CSR initiatives undertaken by exhibitors at the fair, as well as various skills and knowledge promoted by the event. Examples include SIAL Insights, a biennial major industry trend analysis conducted by a global group of experts.

SIAL Innovation focuses on discovering international innovations, and the SIAL Startup area grows every year: in 2024, the exhibition space will double the number of promising startups, including those still in the concept phase.

Finally, a novelty of the 2024 event is the new concept of exhibitor stands. Eighty percent of visitors requested the stands be arranged by product type to enhance the transparency of the exhibition space. Preliminary expectations suggest this will likely result in the grouping of 7500 exhibitors by various themes.

How Has SIAL Paris Evolved Over 60 Years?

The establishment of SIAL has had a significant impact on the global food industry. We consider the most important results to be those achieved by the exhibitors and visitors, creating opportunities for meetings, agreements, and highlighted innovations every two years.

The fair’s history is rich, but several significant milestones can be noted. In the 1960s, SIAL Paris was already very internationally focused and innovation-driven. The first edition was held in the newly completed CNIT building, an architectural feat in a district that was just beginning to develop and has since become Europe’s largest business district: La Défense. It’s amusing to note that SIAL’s headquarters is now located in the same district!

In 1996, a significant shift occurred with the launch of SIAL Innovation, a competition to showcase the world’s most innovative foods. Twenty-eight years later, this competition has become the most significant of its kind in the market.

With the onset of the 3rd millennium, SIAL has grown into a network of trade fairs, including SIAL Shanghai, SIAL Canada, SIAL Interfood in Indonesia, and SIAL India, eventually forming the world’s largest professional food industry fair network. Notably, the network continues to expand with SIAL Shenzhen and Food & Drinks Malaysia by SIAL in Kuala Lumpur.

Finally, in the 2010s, the fair’s content continued to enrich with the launch of SIAL Insights, a biennial compilation of emerging industry trend studies based on a two-year global study.

LDHERINES

Celebrations and Special Events as SIAL Paris Celebrates Its Exceptional Anniversary

This year’s edition of SIAL looks back at the food industry’s past while also anticipating the future with a retrospective and forward-looking approach. On our 60th anniversary, we reflect on six decades of innovation and change in the food sector while looking ahead to future innovations.

The theme “Own The Change” encourages people to collectively embrace change and confront the challenges facing the global food industry. This approach will permeate the entire event.

Of course, this anniversary event will also feature many innovations:

• Sial for Change: a new SIAL award where exhibitors can compete for recognition of their CSR strategies
• Sial Summit: four summits each featuring exceptional speakers and the latest trends in artificial intelligence and deep tech, the supply chain, CSR, and the African market
• Sial Taste: tasting the most innovative products near SIAL Innovation
• Sial Startup: the fair’s startup village will triple in size, accommodating 150 startups and early-stage companies from around the world

Visitor comfort and experience are of utmost importance during the exhibition, including full sector-specific breakdowns to facilitate easier product discovery. Additionally, the “Guinguette” will provide visitors with drinks, light snacks, animations, and music throughout the day, along with Sial Off, which will showcase 60 locations in Paris.

Naturally, the fair’s 60th anniversary will be celebrated with a special evening event on Sunday, October 20.

New Layout, New Experiences

One of the novelties for 2024 is the fair’s new layout, developed in response to 80% of past visitors expressing a desire to concentrate similar product types in one area to enhance the efficiency of their visits. This improvement aims to optimize visitor experiences by grouping all exhibitors by themes.

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