The IFFA, the trade fair for manufacturers of meat, fish and seafood products, as well as processors of milk and alternative raw materials, and the iba, the trade fair for bakery, confectionary and snacks, are European heavyweights. What can visitors expect? By Dieter Mailänder, Redaktionsburo Dieter Mailänder
Trade fairs are hotspots. Some like the Host in Milan, the Sial in Paris, or the Alimentaria in Barcelona focus equally on food and technology, while others concentrate on one of the two areas.
What do visitors, who often spend a considerable amount of time and money traveling, expect from such trade fairs? Most will answer: to get to know innovations, to deepen existing contacts (some business partners can only be met at trade fairs) and to network more intensively than before by attending events.
The IFFA – Technology for Meat and Alternative Proteins
One example of a highly specialized trade fair is the IFFA in Frankfurt am Main (May 3 – 8, 2025). It is aimed at producers of food made from meat, fish and seafood, as well as processors of milk and alternative raw materials who produce vegetarian and vegan food. Other target groups include artisanal businesses such as butchers, companies that supply food producers with food or equipment and players in the eating out-of-home market. In 2022, IFFA attracted 900 exhibitors and 50,000 visitors from 130 countries.
The main focus of this trade fair is on process engineering solutions for
• Processing and packaging,
• Selling meat and
• Alternative proteins.
The latter have been represented at this trade fair with their own focus since 2022 because they are becoming increasingly important for the sustainable nutrition of a growing world population. That is why the European Innovation Council (EIC) made an investment commitment to the Spanish biotechnology start-up MOA Foodtech as part of an EIC Accelerator funding round at the beginning of the year. Initially the company will receive 2.3 million Euros, with a further 12.5 million Euros to be provided in a second phase. MOA plans to use this investment to scale up an Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered fermentation platform. It is intended to drive the development of functional ingredients derived from by-products of the agricultural and food industries (fermentation – the conversion of organic material by microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi or even unicellular organisms respectively their enzymes).
The Worlds of….
The trade fair experts have divided their fair into five different IFFA Worlds:
• The World of Processing: This is about the safe and efficient processing of meats and proteins.
• The World of Packaging: The focus here is on innovative concepts for protecting, preserving and presenting food – topics that are also relevant for frozen food manufacturers.
• The World of Ingredients: Here, everything revolves around flavor, structure and the quality of food – another topic being relevant for frozen food manufacturers.
• The World of New Proteins: The focus topics are technology, ingredients and research for all types of meat alternatives – dried, chilled or frozen.
• The World of Skills and Sales: Knowledge and skills for excellent craftsmanship and enthusiastic customers.
These thematically structured areas bundle the offers of the exhibitors of different product groups and create orientation for the visitors.
In all areas of this, as well as other trade fairs, one of the top topics is which new processes can be digitalized, assisted or replaced by robots.
Robotics or Sensor Technology
Robotics and sensor technology play an important role in cross-process automation in the meat and protein industry. The following process steps, among others, are involved:
• Raw material processing: mixing and size reduction
• Cutting to size → faster and more precise at every specific cutting angle
• Processing: slicing, portioning, filling, shaping, wrapping, sorting, picking, packaging or placing.
• Thermal processes: cooking and cooling
• Packaging
• Logistics
Big data plays a central role in this. Almost unimaginably large amounts of data are generated during production, packaging, storage and transportation. This data must be collected and analyzed in real time (perhaps this is done using sensors). This data can be used, for example, to ensure compliance with the declared weight, to significantly reduce contamination or to check the composition of gas in packaging, thereby ensuring shelf life.
AI – Now Controversial
Artificial intelligence plays a key role in all these processes. This technology assists in monitoring production processes. It reports malfunctions and analyzes how they occurred (cause-and-affect relationships). AI also trains the software of image recognition and processing programs used to ensure quality. In the case of meat products, it helps to sort pieces according to size, shape, structure, grain or fat content. AI is an also valuable tool for the predictive maintenance of machines and systems. This helps to reduce unforeseen downtime.
The iba –The World Trade Fair for Bakers, Confectioners and Snack-Makers
In 2020, Europe was the largest market for baked goods in terms of sales, with a global share of 34%, followed by the Middle East/North Africa region (20%) and Asia (17%) . Europe offers the greatest variety of products, with the most new baked goods coming onto the market (41%). It also has the highest consumption per capita (Austria and Germany at around 80 kg each, followed by Spain and France). In this strong pan-European market, the iba (May 18 – 25, 2025 in Düsseldorf), which sees itself as the world fair for bakery, confectionery and snacks, is one of the most important players in the trade fair business. In 2023, the fair attracted almost 1,100 exhibitors from 46 countries. 57,000 visitors came from 150 countries.
A Stable Political Environment
As with meat and sausage products, artisanal businesses are important. Most of the players are local craft businesses. In contrast to the meat and sausage industry, alternative raw materials play a role primarily in relation to intolerances. Critical discussions are not to be expected with regard to the cultivation of field crops. Things tend to get particularly heated when there are conflicting debates about the use of pesticides, insecticides or agricultural fallow land. As far as can be foreseen, however, these topics will not play a role at the iba. On the other hand, the topic of “proteins” also plays a certain role at this trade fair, because protein snacks are also available in the baked goods sector. The same applies to vegan snacks, where eggs are replaced by alternative products made from soy.
Iba’s Focus Areas
The organizers of the trade fair have focused on seven topics:
• Craftsmanship
• Complete solutions
• Quality assurance
• Food trends
• Sustainability
• Digitalization
• Health
In this context, focusing means that the website of the trade fair names those manufacturers that give these focal points a certain weight. Contrary to the extremely concise teaser texts on the organizer’s website, cross-manufacturer topics play a rather subordinate role. Even though the iba is a larger trade fair than the IFFA, they are both in the same league and promise to provide a lot of valuable input.