IFE London 2022 with California Walnuts
CWC attended the International Food and Drink Expo (IFE) in London from 21 – 23 March.
IFE brings together more food & drink buyers and suppliers than any other UK event. With a legacy of over 40 years, IFE continues to be the largest and most successful product sourcing platform for senior buyers from across the retail, wholesale, distribution, import & export, and foodservice sectors.
The CWC could be found at stand number 1450 at the Excel Centre in London during the 3-day event. CWC representatives met with the UK trade and discussed opportunities for CWC, provided samples, in newly prepared recyclable packaging, along with displays of a wide variety of products that contain California Walnuts.
We were delighted that, despite the increasing number of constraints facing California walnut shipments to the UK, in particular regarding logistics, a total of 586MT of enquiries were received from interested buyers.
When comparing the latest IFE numbers with the last IFE held pre-pandemic in 2019 there were a number of items to note regarding attendance and the level of enquiries received.
Despite overall attendance being down by 28%, we found that the overall seniority of those attending was generally higher with 35% of attendees at the booth being either Director or owner level of the companies they represented.
One of the biggest surprises was the high number of importers and wholesalers attending the booth,39%. Way above the numbers reached in 2019 (3%).
A summary of the show results ‘Facts & Figures’:
- Visitors over the 3 days: 20,000 attendees
- Exhibitors: 1,173
- Stand Visitors: 164
- Directors/Owners: 35%
- Wholesalers/Importers: 39%
- Food Manufacturers: 3%
- Walnut enquiries estimated at 586MT from 11 companies.
Further trade exhibitions are planned in 2023.
