PARIS -- More than 5,200 exhibitors showcasing food products from nearly 100 countries will fill the Paris-Nord Exhibition Centre for SIAL 2004, taking place here Oct. 17 to 21. The trade show, held every two years, attracted more than 135,000 attendees in 2002 with foods and beverages that ranged from the basic to the extravagantly exotic.
ing 25% from outside Europe. Countries sending attendees for the first time to the 2004 show include Belarus, Finland, Gabon, Latvia, Serbia and Yemen.
Every food industry sector will be represented on the 2.1 million-square-foot show floor, including products for catering; organic products; health food products and food supplements; and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Exhibitors are also organized into national and regional pavilions, with the U.S. and Canada joining the U.K., Italy, Spain, Germany, Brazil, China, South Africa, Russia and several others.
The SIAL show will also feature an area devoted to the SIAL D'Or, the awards program designed to identify the most commercially successful new products in a range of different markets. Supermarket News represented the U.S. on the 27-country SIAL D'Or jury, which met in May and awarded top honors in 12 food product categories, as well as a winner for each participating country. The Global SIAL D'Or, chosen from among the 12 category winners, will be announced at an invitation-only ceremony to be held Oct. 18.
In addition to the biennial Paris show, Exposium operates food trade shows in several international venues, including SIAL China (Shanghai, May 18 to 20, 2005) and SIAL Mercosur (Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug. 23 to 26, 2005). The next show after SIAL Paris will be SIAL's biannual North American show, the third edition of SIAL Montreal, to be held in that city April 13 to 15, 2005.
