food & drink technology Africa – Exhibitor Statements

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On the March 18 and 19, food & drink technology Africa premiered at Gallagher Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa. 84 local and international exhibitors presented the latest technologies in the food and beverage processing and packaging industry.

The inaugural food & drink technology
Africa trade fair and conference took place with rave reviews and has been
deemed a success by all involved. Many exhibitors already signed up to join
the next show in 2016. Commonly agreed by all participants, there is a huge
potential for the food and beverage industry growth in the African markets.
Here are a few statements from our exhibitors:
Andre van Zyl, Managing Director, Anton Paar: “The organization of the event
was fantastic. The venue was great and safe. fdt Africa has done very well for a first
time show and we made good leads of a high quality. 2016 is booked. Guaranteed.”
Gary Johnson, Senior Sales Manager, BASF: “It was an excellent show, with a
high quality of visitors that attended, 10/10 from us.”
George Bohrer, Managing Director, Bohrer Maschinenbau: “fdt Africa connected
us with good quality visitors from the beverage, dairy and liquid food industries. We
made very promising new contacts and plenty of our local clients came to see us. It
was a good premiere show for us with excellent organization from the local MMI
team. The next show in 2016 is on our list and we plan to attend.”
Rupande Sampat, Design Head, Chemco Group: “The inaugural fdt Africa was an
interesting start to what promises to be an excellent exhibition in the future.”
Craig Smith, Sales, Comp Air: “We had a great response from the visitors who
were of a very high quality, and generated interesting leads. We will be back in
2016.”
Sonia Kittle, Senior Sales Manager, Crest Chemicals: “We were pleasantly
surprised with the very good quality leads. People you would not expect from both
local and international markets. A big yes to 2016.”
Thomas Bernolet, Manager, Crown-Baele: “The show is open for growth and sets
a very professional environment; the next show should aim for all of Africa.”
Deon Gallus, Sales Manager, Deltamune: “We believe the event was a good
launch, with great leads, and we will definitely be in the next show. Pity for those who
weren’t here, they lost out.”
Uli Nau, Executive Director Sales Africa, D?hler GmbH: “It was a slow start, but
over the two days we made many valuable contacts and were mostly very busy. That
was a real surprise considering it was the first time fdt Africa took place, and that this
event is not widely known in the industry yet. In a nutshell, we are very much looking
forward to the next show, where we expect more visitors, especially from the
neighboring countries. fdt Africa complements our strategy to grow our business
across Africa.”
Emiliano Facchi, Head of Business Development & Marketing Southern Africa,
DSI unique draught technologies: “We are really happy with the results achieved
for a show taking place for the first time. We have come away with some useful
contacts. This was a ‘first step’ into Southern Africa for us, and a platform for our
growth in the market going forward.”
Christo Coetzer, 4Bytes Automation: “The show provides an Ideal platform for
expanding your footprint in the market. We were very proud to be a part of it. See
you in 2016.”
Aleksandra Veselinovic, Galeb Metal Pack: “It was very well organized and we
look forward to watching the event grow.”
Patrick Lam, International Sales Co-Ordinator, GDXL: “We know the Messe
M?nchen is high quality show organizers and exhibit in drinktec and CBB, thank you
for providing us with the opportunity to present ourselves into the RSA market. We
look forward to 2016.”
Taryn Browne, GEA Africa: “MMI South Africa and Messe M?nchen International
can be proud of themselves for hosting a very professional fdt Africa exhibition. GEA
Africa felt that for the first attempt the show was well received and visited. Our overall
impression is that it was well organized in an easily accessible venue for most
visitors, and that two days is perfect to fit everything into. Going forward we would
like to see more suppliers attending as well as the theme to be broadened to include
all food production, not only focused on brewing, dairy and juice. It was good to see
that the show also attracted the likes of visitors from as far as Mauritius, Zimbabwe
and Malawi, adding a pleasant diversity to the already vibrant atmosphere. The
conference part of the exhibition should be more accessible, with closed sessions
being reconsidered as we felt that this could prejudice certain visitors. GEA Africa
will definitely be at the next exhibition and we look forward to an even bigger and
better show.”
Sales Team, Hatch: “fdt Africa was very well organized and well received as a first
show. We have received some great leads and we are excited to see the show grow
in the upcoming years.”
Christian Fruth, Vice President of Sales, GERNEP GmbH: “fdt Africa is an ideal
factor in our efforts to enhance our market position in sub-Saharan Africa. The
organisation of the exhibition was excellent and our plan is to attend the next event in
2016. We are very happy with the results and have welcomed good quality visitors to
our stall.”
Ulrich Gehrke, Regional Director of Sales, Hosokawa BEPEX GmbH: “The
combination of exhibition and conference was a very interesting approach. It should
be attractive to many companies in the food and drink industry. We expect that fdt
Africa will grow significantly in the future years.”
Raymond Karsten, Director, Instek Control: “Our experience was a high quality of
visitors and a very well organized event; we will be back for the next show in 2016.”
Jari Karanto, CEO, JADE Trading: “We decided on attending the show to assist
with our company growing, and we can now confirm we will definitely grow in RSA.
We feel very positive about fdt Africa, and we are excited to come back in 2016.”
Andre Tromp, National Sales Manager, Krones South Africa: “For the first event
of this type in South Africa, Krones has happy to see the high quality of customers
who attended the exhibition. Most of the visitors to our stand were owners and key
decision makers from our top customers in Southern Africa. This afforded both our
customers and our colleagues who travelled from Germany and neighbouring African
countries the opportunity to discuss key projects and opportunities.”
Ian Duke, Senior Sales Manager, Letaba Industrial Pumps: “The event was well
organized, and we were pleasantly surprised by the hospitality. There was a high
quality of both visitors and exhibitors, and we will definitely be back, as we believe
the event has a lot of potential.”
Crispin Moakler, Sales Manager, Lineview Solutions: “We are happy with the turn
out of the show, and excited to see the show expand further into both industries. We
look forward to coming back in 2016.”
Alex Ferguson, Multivac Southern Africa: “Our participation in Food and Drink
Technology 2014 was a successful endeavour. It was a well-organized event and it
made networking with new customers, existing customers as well as fellow exhibitors
beneficial. We had the opportunity to present a few case studies as part of our MAP
presentation at the conference, which created an interesting platform for
conversation afterwards, at our stand. Taking into consideration that fdt is quite a
new addition to the Southern African trade show schedule, we obtained very good
quality leads to pursue. All in all, the organizers looked after the exhibitors well – they
were friendly, resourceful and organized. MULTIVAC Southern Africa was proud to
be part of fdt Africa 2014.”
Peter Roth, Vice President, PALLMANN Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG:
“Compliments to the organizers, stand builders, architects and the VDMA.
“Made in Germany” was well on display and showed an example of what it can
deliver on the local markets. fdt Africa has over-exceeded our expectations in terms
of the number of visitors and their quality. We are very satisfied with the results. A
very good start in South Africa that we would like to repeat with the next show in
2016.”
Emmanuel Rurema, Director Business Development – Africa, Pentair Filtration
& Process: “Pentair thanks the organizers for taking the step to bring this event into
Africa. We found in this event a good platform to showcase our latest innovations
and integrated solutions for the beer, beverage, food, dairy and wine industries in
Africa. It was good to meet some of our African customers and connect with new
ones. We are happy with the interest expressed in all Pentair products presented
during the show and look forward to the next fdt show in Africa.”
Steffen Manke, General Manager, Robert Bosch Packaging South Africa:
“Bosch Packaging South Africa are happy with the exposure we have been given to
new clients, especially smaller companies We have received a lot of enquiries on
our liquid division, which gave us a good chance to present our solutions in sectors
such as the dairy industry. Gallagher Convention Centre is a perfect venue to host
such an event; the organization and the overall show was well received. We will be
back in 2016.”
Dominique Schlenk, Robatech SA: “The show has gone well, focusing more on
quality than quantity. Being the first show in SA, it has gone very well and I am sure it
will grow from strength to strength. We are looking forward to the next one in two
years, and growing the exhibition. It certainly has its place and has come at the right
time with Africa coming more into focus globally.”
Stefan Zieker, Managing Director, SFZ Zieker: “In order to better understand the
South African market, fdt Africa offers an ideal opportunity. We are quite happy and
made a couple of good leads. The show was very well organized; exactly as you
know it from drinktec. This was a good investment for us.”
Dirk Grafe, Industry Manager Brewery Automation, Siemens AG: “The number
and quality of exhibitors was very good for the first trade fair of its kind in Africa. I am
convinced that together we can transfer the information about the successful launch
of this event to all of our African customers to increase the prospect of them joining
us at the next event. Having said that, and considering the high standard and
professional organization and execution of the show, we are sincerely looking
forward to 2016.”
Martina Bottarel, Manager, SIPA: “Our company, SIPA, opened in 2013 in RSA,
and we are trying to expand through RSA and Africa. We were very happy to be part
of the first show, it was well organized and we have made very interesting contacts,
both known and new. We hope to see the show grow, and wish the organizers the
best of luck.”
Collin Brownn, Sales Manager, Spray Nozzle: “We found fdt Africa to be a good
quality show, with a fantastic quality of visitors.”
Rajat Kedia, Manjushree Technopack Ltd: “A good beginning to a show that we
hope will grow better in the coming years.”
Dr.-Ing. Josef Fontaine, Managing Director, VLB e.V.: “Our expectations have
been over-exceeded for a premier show. We made plenty of very useful contacts.
We definitely will be here in 2016. fdt Africa was a real success.”
Korneel Caron, Sales Manager Africa, Waterleau: “fdt Africa offered us a unique
chance to be closer to the market, and to generate new leads and maintain existing
business ties. It was a very good show for us and we are planning to attend again in
2016.”
Oliver Kay, Business Development Africa & Asia, XOLUTION GmbH: “We
generated very interesting leads. The show was very professionally organized.”
Mario Allendoerfer, Sales Director Africa, Ziemann Int. GmbH: “fdt Africa
demonstrated clearly that even though it was a premier show it has the potential to
become a “must be there event”. For ZIEMANN International GmbH, as provider of
an extensive range of products for the brewing and liquid food industry, such an
event plays an important role in our African operations.”
About food & drink technology Africa
food & drink technology Africa takes place every two years in Johannesburg, South
Africa. The inaugural trade fair and conference was joined by 84 exhibitors from
South Africa and around the globe. The organizers are Messe M?nchen International
(MMI) and its subsidiary MMI South Africa, based in Johannesburg.
The conceptual sponsor is the Food Processing and Packaging Machinery
Association of the VDMA (German Engineering Federation).
The event targets specifically to the needs of the regional market, South Africa and
sub-Saharan Africa. The focus is on technologies for safe, hygienic and resourceefficient
production and packaging of foodstuffs, liquid food and beverages, as well
as current developments and trends along the entire value-added chain: from raw
materials handling, processing, filling and packaging through to logistics. The
conference program is supplemented by a series of workshops held by the
exhibitors.
The next food & drink technology Africa will take place March 16 and 17, 2016.
Additional information and photos for download can be found at