Anuga Trade Fair 2015

Cologne 2015

The entrance into the Anuga messe at Cologne 9-12 Oct, a three day visit to the worlds biggest food trade fair.
if you've never been, be prepared for the crush, there must be 50000 visitors there every day.
some tips.

• Wear comfortable shoes

• Its hot inside, wear comfortable clothes

• Book a hotel early

• The trains between Dusseldorf and Cologne are a nightmare save the fare and invest it into a hotel in Cologne, the trade fare is only two stops on the tram from the city.

• The train from Dusseldorf takes a hour and costs ca. 11 euro.

• The ticket machines at the train stations don't take international credit cards, this causes chaos with thousands of international commuters, delays and extreme cues.

• Many bars and restaurants don't take credit cards, Germany doesn't seem to have head that the rest of Europe is moving cashless.

• The trade fare focuses on supplier/manufacturer  selling to wholesalers.

Here I am about ready to go in, eleven massive exhibition halls to walk around many are 2 or more levels, be prepared for congestion and lots of interesting presentations from the whole world.
The national stands offer a world of possibilities to explore prepare for an up coming holiday by gathering tips and networking. Look for sponsors, ideas or participants for a future food theme.   

EU pallets seem to fill a key roll in the design and building of the individual exhibits, one of many photos, some of the handiwork looked pretty good, kind of a mini wow effect. & I thought there was a deposit on pallets. a simple effective and strong building material.

There are so many exhibits to look at, the focus on presentation and lifting the brand profil is competitive between the companies. ex. this swiss cheese company is not only competing with maybe a dozen other companies selling the same cheese but with 100's of other companies trying to create export markets fro themselves. 
  

Be open and look for possibilities this deli presentation includes enough ideas to pimp any restaurant/hotel buffet, not only the ideas in the charcuterie hall there was so much to eat especially the hams,  

Keep an eye out for buffet and shop presentation, this company for instance doesn't sell bread, they sell designer shop fittings and buffets. a photograph is enough to fuel an idea.