IS YOUR TARGET MARKET THE RESTAURANT, HOTEL, CATERING AND FOOD SERVICE BUSINESS?
 

If the answer is yes, we have an event that’s making great in-roads into this market and could give your company a real mid year sales boost in 2010.

FoodBiz Africa was launched as part of the food and beverage line up at Africa’s Big Seven (AB7) in 2008.

That year it captured 11.9% of the visitorship to AB7. This year FoodBiz visitors doubled to 22.7% of the 7,542 attendees from 45 countries.

Next year we expect similar growth.

Why?

Because AB7 is the only event on the continent with a genuinely international flavour and appeal. Apart from the visitors recorded from 45 countries we boasted 238 exhibiting companies from 39 countries. They exhibited 2,117 items under 392 product categories.

No other event even comes close.

In addition to the above we focus on Halaal – the fastest growing segment of the food industry worldwide. Halaal World attracts a growing visitorship – Moslem and non-moslem alike.

But it’s not all about numbers – AB7 delivers a quality audience. In 2009 58.1% of visitors were owners, MD’s or directors of companies (up from 48.2% in 2008). 92% of visitors interviewed said they made new business contacts whilst 90% said they would visit again in 2010. More importantly 86% of visitors said they would recommend to their business colleagues that they also attend in 2010. 

Word of mouth advertising – it’s the best – that’s why we are confident that the expo will keep on growing and keep on delivering business for its exhibitors.

It’s budget time

Whilst you consider your promotional plans and costings for 2010 it’s good to reflect on what type of activities give you the best returns on your investment (ROI). Exhibitions are the only medium that give you a measurable ROI – and for little more than a full page advertisement the value of which you have no  quantifiable way of assessing.

So to find out how we can contribute to your bottom line next year, email Lineke van der Brugghen @  admin@exhibitionsafrica.com

Finally, here’s what some exhibitors had to say about the 2009 event:

• Cashmaster/UK - A huge success. We left with an overwhelming response, generating substantially more business than anticipated.

• CSB –Sytems/Germany – On the first day of the show we made more qualified contacts than we achieved from combined results of 3 shows earlier this year in London, Birmingham and Ireland.

• Oceana Brands/South Africa – Locally we are firmly established but our aim was to promote export into Africa – we fulfilled this during the show and made many African contacts.

• Wiesheu/Germany – the show was much more than we expected; we got about 150 contacts – we sold all our equipment on the show and we came to an agreement with our distribution partner.

• Aguas de Mondariz Fuente Del Val S.A/ Spain: It was the first time our leading Spanish brand of Mondariz natural mineral water was being shown in South Africa and we are delighted to say that as a result of this show, Mondariz has now formed three long term partnerships to sell our premium glass water products and our general plastic bottle range. The quality of the people we met at the show was outstanding and the show was very well organised from the very start right through to breakdown. We fully expect to be back at the show but with the support of our new found local partners next time.

• As a result of AB7, Indian tea-maker Premier Tea succeeded in finding an importer for their Premier Tea product range. “Our products will soon be on South African shelves”, reports H.A. Shah, Chairman and Managing Director of Premier Tea Products. “This is the first time we are bringing our Premier Tea Products to South Africa and we are extremely impressed with the quality of the expo.”

• Designed to help maximise meeting opportunities for exhibitors and visitors alike, the Business Matchmaking Programme – a new addition to this year’s event – proved extremely popular and valuable to participants. Murat Gür, Export and Sales Representative for Eti Pazarlama ve Sanayi A.ª. (Turkey) believes that this was a great addition to the event “as it brings the right people together and creates an environment that allows for good business deals to take place.”

• Ms. Nathalie Mamet, Marketing Director of Café Le Fournaise – an exhibitor from Mauritius - commented “As first time exhibitors we have found AB7 to be a unique and interesting experience. Throughout the three days we generated huge interest in our product and have made excellent contacts. We identified several potential clients who would like to import our product. This has been a great experience for us and our coffee.”

Join in their success – exhibit in 2011
 

FoodBiz Africa is another structured business event from Africa’s leading exhibition organisers.