At Danisco, we are committed to developing value-added ingredients that address today’s concerns for a healthier diet. Based on documented science, our range of health and nutrition ingredients provides physiological benefits and enables our customers to significantly enhance the health and nutritional positioning of their products.

At this year’s event, we will be presenting our portfolio of innovative ingredients that contribute to overall health and well-being and also offer specific solutions in the areas of digestive, immune and bone health, antioxidants and general well-being.

This article is available in full in the Spring 2010 issue of Nutraceuticals Now

This year is a very special one for everyone in the dietary supplements functional foods and functional drinks industry. Why? Because after four years of consistent annual growth, Finished Products Expo is going solo in 2010. During this period, the show has proven time and again that it is a serious player in the arena and so for the first time, it is moving into a hall of its own, with a dedicated entrance and marketing campaign to boot.

This couldn’t have come at a better time for the event, which believe it or not, began as a pavilion within Vitafoods. Since it started, Finished Products Expo has been gradually gaining momentum with both exhibitors and visitors alike. It has taken time, like all events of its nature, but we wanted to ensure we were creating an offering that was tailored perfectly to the needs and requirements of the industry.

Although it has its own hall and entrance, there will still be those valuable cross-over points with Vitafoods to provide exhibitors and visitors with those all-important networking opportunities which, lets face it, are what makes shows like these tick.

One of the comments that always comes back to me after a stint in Geneva is about how great the shows are socially, which is truly refreshing to hear. So a couple of years ago we decided to capitalise on that even further by actually setting- up a bespoke service for Finished Products Expo – The Distributors Wanted Scheme – so that visitors can search and even be contacted by potential distributors before the event. It’s been described as an online matchmaking scheme, which saves visitors valuable time and money.

Nevertheless, there is far more going on than simply networking with industry peers and catching-up with old contacts at Vitafoods and Finished Products Expo. Both shows are known industry-wide as the venues for large-scale innovation launches. All of the major players from the functional foods, functional drinks, dietary supplements and nutraceutical markets converge annually on GENEVA PALEXPO, each one competing healthily with the next for the most cutting-edge product launch. The features that we have at the shows complement this too, with the New Products Zone for example, giving an insight into the next big thing to take the market by storm.

And with innovation the key focus for both Vitafoods and Finished Products Expo, its no surprise that some great business deals have taken place on both show floors over the years. In a niche industry like ours, it’s not impossible to get the majority of the leading players together under one roof and when that happens, it becomes the perfect place to conduct serious business deals, many of which can – and have – shaped the industry forever.

So hopefully this year we’re on course to achieve more of the same. With the recession behind us and a mood of optimism sweeping the industry, there’s no reason why the 2010 installments of these shows can’t be the biggest and best yet. All the initial signs are there that both are set to break records – so watch this space!

Finished Products Expo and Vitafoods take place on 18-20 May 2010 at the Geneva Palexpo, Geneva, Switzerland. Visit www.finishedproductsexpo.com or www.vitafoods.eu.com for more information.
Chris Lee
Event Director, Finished Products Expo

The November / December 2009 issue of Nutraceuticals Now is now available.

Excerpts of featured articles are available on this website:

Frutarom: Healthy, Natural Ways to fight Obesity
Barry Callebaut: All the Goodness of the Cocoa Bean
BENEO-Orafti: Responds to Obesity the Natural Way

Predictions by the World Health Organisation say that by 2015, over 2.3 billion of the adult population will be overweight and more than 700 million will be obese. The problem is no longer confined to high-income countries as low and middle-income countries are now also at risk.

In contrast to this over-all trend, there is a growing proportion of the population who are becoming more health conscious and concerned about their weight, so are demanding alternative food products that will help them lead a healthier lifestyle. Yves Servotte, member of the executive board of the BENEO-Group reviews the latest trends and observations and highlights the innovative opportunities the group’s ingredients can offer food manufacturers.

This article is available in full in the November / December 2009 issue of Nutraceuticals Now

Recent studies show that eating the right kind of chocolate on a regular basis can impart a whole host of benefits on both mind and body. The benefits of the daily consumption of antioxidant flavanols are well documented in the areas of cardiovascular health, cognitive function and the immune response.

However, recent breakthroughs are pointing to the effectiveness of these powerful compounds in protecting the skin against the harmful effects of UV radiation. The best news is that one company has succeeded in developing a process, which preserves the activity of these cocoa flavanols in chocolate. In fact, Barry Callebaut’s patented ACTICOATM chocolate is the only chocolate with a guaranteed minimum content of antioxidant flavanols.

Barry Callebaut has developed a unique process to preserve these compounds in the best possible form: the finest quality chocolate.

This article is available in full in the November / December 2009 issue of Nutraceuticals Now