Trade exhibitions can provide a bridge between countries and cultures. The FHC China 2012, international food, wine and hospitality exhibition that ended last Friday, 16^th November 2012 proved to be a 70 lane highway, representing the number of countries participating at this major event, straight to the heart of the Chinese food and hospitality market and into the largest trade centre in the country, Shanghai.

FHC China 2012, 14-16 November 2012 at Shanghai New International Expo Centre, SNIEC, the 16 edition of the show in Shanghai ended with a record 30,156 buyers attending the three day exhibition. FHC is unique in China, as it is exclusively for imported food and beverages. All participants are either international suppliers exporting to China or agents and distributors of international brands. Visitors were treated to a “feast” of new products, ideas and business opportunities from the 1,500 participating companies from over 70 countries and including 47 pavilions. This year 162 importers and distributors also participated and proved a captive audience for international companies seeking new partners in China.  The success of FHC 2012 was enhanced by the quality of buyers that attended from every corner of China. Shanghai visitors represented the majority with 55% of the total audience, while a record 37% attended from other Chinese cities and 8% from overseas, principally the Asian region.

“In addition to meeting 16,435 hospitality, retail and food traders from Shanghai, anyone getting on a plane or train to travel to Shanghai and attend FHC is a potential client worth meeting and 11,098 of them did so” stated Brendan Jennings, General Manager of the show organiser China International Exhibitions Ltd “much to the delight of exhibitors as this allowed them to gain access to customers and potential partners not just in the vibrant Shanghai market, but all over China”.

 

FHC China 2012 spread over a total of five exhibition halls in the SNIEC complex. Three halls for international food suppliers and including a dedicated Meat China section with country pavilions from Argentina; Australia, Belgium; Canada; Denmark; New Zealand. Tea & Coffee China occupied another hall for over 150 dedicated suppliers of tea and coffee ingredients, equipment and supplies and ice cream ingredients and equipment companies.

The growth of the wine and beverage sectors in China and the number of companies applying to join FHC resulted in a first dedicated hall for wine, spirits and beer companies this year. Over 200 companies participated including eight country pavilions. Supporting the exhibition were a number of specialist wine events and a highlight  was  “ The Wine Revolution in China” conference with presentations by wine industry “superstars” Michel Rolland; Aurelio Montes; Steven Spurrier and Gerard Basset OBE and the world champion sommelier.

 

Another wine feature was the first ProWine Tasting Zone in China, including over 300 award winning wines from the Mundus Vini competition in partnership with Messe Dusseldorf, organisers of the world’s largest wine show, ProWein. On the first day of FHC and in recognition of the considerable growth potential of the China wine market, China International Exhibitions and Messe Dusseldorf announced their collaboration to created China’s largest wine show, named ProWine China 2013 to take place alongside FHC China 2013.

A central pillar for FHC marketing in China is to provide buyers with more than just an exhibition to visit. At the show this year retailers and wholesales, hotel F&B managers, sommeliers, food buyers, barista, chefs, service staff, IT manager, food traders and more all found competitions, events, workshops and conferences offering training and learning opportunities for their specialist professions. The largest of these was the 14^th FHC China International Culinary Arts Competition, the first event in China to receive the endorsement of the World Association of Chefs Societies, WACS. Here, over 550 chefs competed across 15 competition categories both live cooking and pre made and attended by thousands of their managers and peers. 

 

Every year, since the first edition of FHC in 1994, this show has grown in size. Responding initially to the number of international companies wanting to promote their products into this market. More recently however, the increasing number of companies attending FHC is now driven by the rapid growth in demand by hotels, restaurants, retailers, importers and distributors and ultimately consumers in China. All buying more food and beverage products and requiring greater variety and higher safety and quality standards. As China strides towards becoming the world’s largest market for imported foods, FHC will continue to offer a growing platform and highway for international suppliers to access this vast and dynamic market.

FHC China 2013 and ProWine China 2013 will take place from 13-15 November 2013 at Shanghai New International Expo Centre. For more information please visit:

www.fhcchina.com and www.prowinechina.com