Alimentaria Barcelona Expands Attendance Demographics

A second global foodservice exhibition also marked an anniversary with record attendance.

The biennial Alimentaria Barcelona welcomed professionals from 157 countries (16 more than in 2014) to its 40th anniversary edition April 25-28 in Barcelona.

Registration logs show more than 4,000 exhibitors from 78 countries and 140,000 visitors, nearly one-third from outside Spain. Half of attendees came from Europe, mainly from France, Italy, United Kingdom, Portugal and the Netherlands, but the U.S. and Latin America were well-represented too. The ease of travel to Spain also brought in growing numbers from Asia and the Middle East; eight countries new to Alimentaria Barcelona—including Tunisia, Algeria, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Congo and Mozambique—also had a presence there.

Innovation, technology and change were hot topics of conversation in workshops and lectures held in sectors such as the Food Hub and the Food Factory.

The next edition of Alimentaria will take place from April 16-19, 2018 at the Gran Via de Fira de Barcelona.