Koelnmesse is entering into a new partnership with the Colombian trade fair company Corporación de Ferias y Exposiciones S.A. (Corferias), which has its headquarters in Bogotá. The Cologne company is thus expanding its activities in the Latin American trade fair market.
Within the scope of this partnership, Koelnmesse is planning, among other things, to acquire shares in a trade fair for food and food technology that has previously been staged a independently by Corferias.
“Through the agreement with Corferias, Koelnmesse has gained a powerful partner for a promising cooperation in the Andes region,” says Gerald Böse, President and CEO of Koelnmesse GmbH. “The agreement we have reached here in Bogotá is only the starting point of a long-term cooperation.” The goal of the planned partnership is equal participation in Alimentec, a trade fair for food and catering equipment that is the most important event of its kind in the Andes region.
“I see great potential for Koelnmesse in this event,” says Gerald Böse. “Through the acquisition of shares in Alimentec we are strategically expanding our portfolio in the areas of food and food technology all over the world.” The President of Corferias, Andrés Lopez Valderrama, regards the agreement as a true win-win situation: “Koelnmesse is our ideal strategic partner for a cooperation in the food sector. Above all, we hope to internationalize Alimentec more strongly with the help of Koelnmesse.”
Through Koelnmesse’s participation in Alimentec, Corferias will benefit most of all from Koelnmesse’s contacts and its familiarity with the international food sector. In addition to the world’s largest food trade fair, Anuga in Cologne, Koelnmesse stages more than 25 trade fairs in the areas of food and food technology all over the world. To date it has concentrated its activities in Latin America primarily on Brazil, where the premiere of International FoodTec Brasil took place in August 2014.