Presentation to the food industry of Manufacturing Partners, the trade fair for contract manufacturing

Feria de Valladolid and the Spanish Federation of Food and Beverage Industries (FIAB in its Spanish initials) have presented the programme for the first edition of Manufacturing Partners, the trade fair specialised in contract manufacturing that will be holding its first edition on 13th and 14th June next year in the city of Valladolid, in the region of Castilla y León.

The presentation before sector-related businesses was held in the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and was attended by representatives from food and beverage companies, the two target segments for this first edition of the project.

Feria de Valladolid’s CEO, Alberto Alonso, explained that Manufacturing Partners is an initiative launched by the trade fair organisation. Based on an original model, the goal is “to provide participating companies with a platform for doing business”.

“This is an event characterised by a high degree of specialisation that will foment contacts between manufacturers, as well as among companies seeking production partners in southern Europe. We will be targeting a segment that does not yet hold a particularly large stake in food and beverage production as a whole, but which presents excellent growth potential”, Alonso added.

In turn, Mauricio García de Quevedo, FIAB’s Managing Director, stressed that “Manufacturing Partners is a new meeting point for the industry, with a large capacity and potential for growth, the ability to adapt to the latest trends, and an international angle that for several days will turn Valladolid into the capital of contract manufacturing, co-packing and co-manufacturing”.

Manufacturing Partners is conceived as a business forum that hinges on the B2B contractors’ market. It will provide a space for meetings between exhibitors and buyers based on a closed agenda of appointments based on shared interests.

Producers of chocolates, cacao products, children’s foods, alcoholic beverages, coffee, soluble cereals, ingredients for the agri-food industry, cheeses, butters and dairy products, savoury snacks and crisps, etc., are just some of the sectors that will be represented at Manufacturing Partners by companies with long-standing experience in contract manufacturing, brand distribution and industrial production.

Feria de Valladolid has also launched an international buyers’ programme that includes representatives from companies operating in the segments lists above and interested in manufacturing in southern Europe. Firms based in Switzerland, the Netherlands…are eager to attend the first edition of Manufacturing Partners scheduled for next June.

Sharing knowledge is another key aspect of this professional meeting. The technical sessions will get underway with a conference on global co-manufacturing trends by Brandon Hernández, co-founder and partner of the US consultancy company Whole Brain Consulting.

This will be followed with a talk by José Ignacio Olleros and María Suárez from Andersen, who will be giving their insight on the ten essential points for reaching a good co-manufacturing agreement from a legal perspective.

The programme will end with a round-table discussion on the impact of Brexit for the co-manufacturing sector. Scheduled speakers include Rosana Gómez-Movellán, Counsellor for Agriculture at the Embassy of Spain in the United Kingdom, and David Thomson, Executive Director for the Scotland Food and Drink Federation. The meeting will be moderated by María Naranjo, Food Industry Director at the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX in its Spanish initials).

Madrid. 28/September/22.-