SIAL America, the first-of-its-kind cross-category food and beverage show, made its U.S. debut, hosting domestic and international exhibitors, key importers, food service companies, distributors, retailers, wholesalers and restaurateurs, energizing the $1.5 trillion industry as it continues to recover following the pandemic. As part of the inaugural Las Vegas Food & Beverage Industry Week (LVFBIW), which featured four premiere food shows including SIAL America, Bar & Restaurant Expo, Pizza Expo, and World Tea Conference + Expo, the wide-ranging event kicked off on National Agriculture Day, a nod to the farmers and ranchers who make the food on our table possible.
SIAL America welcomed more than 4,600 industry professionals, hailing from both the U.S. and 60 international countries to the Las Vegas Convention Center. Attendees connected and sourced product from top tier domestic exhibitors including Butterball and California Milk Advisory Board, and also were able to network with the strong and diverse roster of international pavilions that took part in the launch of SIAL America with representation from LatAm (Argentina, Brazil), Europe (France, Italie, Poland), Africa (Morocco, Tunisia) and many more.
Attendees connected with exhibitors seamlessly through SIAL America’s Matchmaking Platform to organize nearly 700 formal meetings and enjoy SIAL’s comprehensive food insight and education sessions moderated by industry thought leaders including, “Inside The Chocolate Industry” with Pat Egan, President & CEO of See’s Candies, “The Era of Food on Demand” with Michael Schaefer, Global Food & Beverage Lead of Euromonitor, “Benefits of Animal-Product Traceability” with Steve Sands, President of PFG Protein Brands, and “Beverage Trends in 2022” with Howard Telford, Head of Soft Drinks at Euromonitor. Attending companies included The Culinary Institute of America, MGM Resorts International, JBS Imports, and Publix Supermarkets.
“SIAL has a long-standing reputation of being the premier event host for the F&B industry around the world and launching SIAL America’s first show with the rare endorsement of the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) gave us all the more confidence we were on to something great,” says Jessica Blue, EVP, Emerald. “It was incredible to witness all of the in-person connections being made within in an industry that was so deeply affected by the pandemic. We are honored to be able to support the industry’s recovery and look forward to coming back even better next year.”
“The SIAL network has been hosting the worldwide food community for almost 60 years. The major U.S. companies and stakeholders received strong support from Paris to Shanghai, from New Delhi to Middle East; A SIAL event on U.S. ground was well expected and we now have done it successfully,” says Nicolas Trentesaux, Directeur Général SIAL Network, Groupe COMEXPOSIUM.
“We are so grateful for the all the positive support we received and the impressive prefigures of SIAL America 2022 is an excellent development for success in the coming years. SIAL America will no doubt become the leading generalist food event in the U.S.,” adds Trentesaux.
SIAL America also announced this year’s Innovation Awards winners, awarding bronze to Maine’s Stonewall Kitchen, silver to Italy’s TipiCilentani, and gold to New Mexico’s The Fresh Chili Co. Winners of these awards go on to exhibit at SIAL events around the world, reaching an audience of 700,000.
“We are so honored to receive the first-ever SIAL America Innovation Award for our Freeze-Dried Hatch Chiles,” says Randy McMillan, owner of Fresh Chile Co. “We created this product to extend the brief shelf life of Hatch Chiles and make them easier to ship, without sacrificing any of the amazing flavor and color. We never imagined we’d receive recognition from such a long-standing global presence in the food innovation space. As a family-run business, we had an incredible experience at SIAL and are so grateful for what this event is doing for our industry, and look forward to coming back next year.”
Setting the stage for the global future of food and beverage, SIAL America will return to the Las Vegas Convention Center next year for its second annual show taking place March 28-30, 2023.
For more info, visit www.sialamerica.com.
