News and press releases

From 21 to 24 April, Hispack & BTA will become a huge centre of business, knowledge and networking for the packaging and food technology industries, sharing important synergies. Both trade fairs expect to attract 35,000 visitors, 10% of them from outside Spain.

Hispack & BTA’s joint plan for internationalization seeks out buyers, distributors and machinery importers -mainly from Europe, the Mediterranean and Latin America- as well as the emerging nations in Asia or Africa that may offer new opportunities for the Spanish packaging and food technology industries. Several direct promotional campaigns have been implemented by AMEC and the foreign delegations of Fira de Barcelona. In total they have targeted more than 20 countries: Germany, France, Italy Portugal, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt, China, India, Angola, Ghana, Malaysia and the Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Iran).

This year, Hispack & BTA anticipates exceeding one thousand business meetings between exhibitors and trade professionals from 35 countries at the International Business Centre (IBC) in Hall 4 of the Gran Via Exhibition Centre.

To achieve this, apart from the general campaigns to attract foreign visitors taking place in the selected countries, Hispack & BTA will invite around 70 international executives through the Hosted Buyers programme, each with projects for buying equipment, machinery and technologies for the food, processing, labelling and packaging industries as well as packaging products and materials. These buyers will have prescheduled appointments with exhibiting companies arranged by the organizers.

Similarly, reverse trade missions are being organized as part of the show with delegations from India, Malaysia, Ghana, Angola and the Gulf States to encourage business meetings.

At the same time, various events will be taking place that include bilateral talks and business meetings with foreign buyers in which more than 160 international companies will be involved. This is the Med Foodtech Roadshow, organized by AMEC, which invites North African companies to participate with European firms in a seminar on business in the Southern Mediterranean and a networking session. Hispack & BTA will also host the Brokerage Event organized by ITENE, FIAB and the Enterprise Europe Network, bringing together providers of packaging, food processing and innovation management as well as firms from the meat, dairy and canning industry from several EU Member States.

Meanwhile, the International Business Centre will have a networking area offering personalized advice to all international visitors to Hispack & BTA as well as other activities such as the seminar on internationalization -organized by FIAB, CDTI and ITYA-and AINIA’s technology mission.

The president of the Organizing Committee of Hispack, Javier Riera-Marsá, is convinced that this edition of Hispack & BTA will mark “a turning point for recovering strong and sustained growth in domestic demand and that it will provide an excellent platform for the packaging and food technology industries to continue exporting and achieve a greater presence in the global market.”

For his part, the president of the Organizing Committee of BTA, Llucià Casellas, highlights “the trade show’s highly effective internationalization programmes, which encourage a high number of business meetings and generate both domestic and international trade.”

The combined organization of Hispack & BTA makes it the third biggest trade fair held at Fira de Barcelona after the Mobile World Congress and Alimentaria. The show will occupy five halls of the Gran Via Exhibition Centre, bringing together 1,250 companies, 6% more than in 2012. The commitment to internationalization is also reflected in the fact that more than 35% of exhibitors are foreign.

Hispack & BTA represents one of the European Union’s main platforms for technology and machinery related to the food and beverage industry, the sector which is the leading consumer of packaging machinery and materials. Thus, this double trade show will showcase all the different phases of food production, from ingredients through to equipment and technologies for manufacturing processes, including packaging and delivery to the point of purchase.

More specifically, Hispack brings together the materials, technology, processes, logistics and solutions for the manufacture of all types of packaging for every industrial or major retail sector, not only for food and drink but also for other items such as Point of Purchase advertising (POP). BTA, meanwhile, will be exhibiting machinery and equipment for the meat and general food industry, plus the latest developments in ingredients and intermediate food products.