Intercarn exhibitor bookings have sold out five months before the food, drink and gastronomy trade show Alimentaria 2018 has even begun, suggesting a strong supply and demand for Spanish meat.
“It has become the leading sector within Alimentaria and it is now an event in its own right,” said Antonio Valls, managing director, Alimentaria Exhibitions.
“Over 90 percent of the country’s leading meat companies will be present at the show; more than 500 companies will be exhibiting at Intercarn. The new thing is that many new international companies will be present too. We have the UK, Germany, Romania, France, Italy, Poland and many others.”
Big-hitters attending
Alimentaria’s Intercarn should occupy around 15,000 square meters, increasing the floor space it had at same event in 2016 by 11%.
As Valls said, Spain’s leading meat producers, including Campofrio Food Group and Noel Alimentaria, will be present. Organisers hope to welcome tens of thousands of chorizo-hungry meat importers from retail, hospitality and wholesale as Spain aims to grow its exports.
Enhancing global competitiveness comes as Spain’s declining population has presented a unique challenge to a meat industry steadily increasing output year-on-year. Spain now has a meat surplus. This has intensified the need to forge new partnerships with international buyers for quintessentially Spanish products like chorizo and jamón ibérico.
Paulo Soares, president of Intercarn and general regional manager for southern Europe of Campofrio Food Group, said the event has helped find new markets for meat.
“Intercarn has supported the sector in this growth and has helped to promote its export capacity and improve its image,” he added.
Today, Spain exports around 40% of the meat it produces. The industry has long been one of the country’s success stories, and was a vital source of revenue during the 2008 economic crisis.
More recently however, exports have declined. Pork export sales dropped by 2% in volume in the first half of 2017, according to data from Agencia Tributaria.