The meat product and by-product trade show will once again be the largest area of the forthcoming Alimentaria, set to take place from 18 to 21 March at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Vía venue. With more business representation than ever before, Intercarn 2024 will also welcome a greater number of large international hosted buyers from strategic markets for the meat industry.
The leading event for business and the internationalisation of the Spanish meat industry will once again constitute the driving force of the Alimentaria & Hostelco 2024 trade fair platform. Intercarn will bring together the leading brands in the domestic meat industry and broaden its international representation. In total, over 330 companies will occupy more than 14,000 m2 of exhibition area, 6% more than at the last fair in 2022, with all kinds of fresh, processed, cured and pre-cooked meat products and the latest innovations in the market.
8 months before trade show days, 80% of the Intercarn exhibition area has been booked, following the confirmations of large companies such as Noel Alimentaria, Jamones Aljomar, Cárnicas Tello, Costa Brava Mediterranean Food, Grupo Coren, Grupo Costa, El Pozo, Grupo Vall Companys, Grupo Norteños, Grupo Jorge, BonÀrea and Companyia General Càrnia, among many others. All of them form part of the trade show’s recently renewed organising committee and account for a high percentage of the turnover within the industry. Together with these leading companies, prominent firms such as Argal Alimentación, Grup Baucells, Carpisa Foods, Jamones Cerezo, Japasur, Central de Carnes Premium, Covap and Fisan will also attend.
Similarly, the attendance of a wide range of small and medium-sized companies from all over the country has been confirmed, together with that of autonomous communities and provinces such as Castile and León, Catalonia, Huelva and Galicia and quality labels such as Sobrasada de Mallorca, Pedroches, Jabugo, Jamón de Teruel and Torrezno de Soria.
The international firms will include German Meat and companies such as the Vandrie Group and Jan Zandbergen (Netherlands), Ess Food (Denmark), Dawn Meats Group (Ireland) and Gers Distribution (France).
More international buyers
In 2024, Alimentaria & Hostelco expects to invite more than 800 large international buyers (Hosted Buyers), 33% more than in 2022. As a strategic pillar of Alimentaria, Intercarn will also reinforce its international nature by expanding its own hosted buyer programme. These are key profiles for imports and domestic and international organised distribution from strategic countries for the Spanish meat industry, including Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, China, Japan, South Korea and Mexico.
Overall, the Alimentaria & Hostelco 2024 platform expects to attract more than 100,000 professionals from 150 countries, including around 24,000 buyers interested in the meat industry.
In this regard, Anna Bosch, the president of the Intercarn Organising Committee and general director of Noel Alimentaria, declared that “Intercarn 2024 will, more than ever before, be the key event for the internationalisation of the Spanish meat industry, as well as a venue to assert its leadership. It’s the best showcase to demonstrate to the world that Spanish meat products are the undisputed leaders in terms of quality, exports, innovation, animal welfare and compliance with the most demanding European standards.”
Firm support for industry
The meat industry will once again attend Intercarn in high numbers to show that it’s their flagship trade fair par excellence. The trade show has renewed its strategic agreements with the main industryal associations and institutions, including the Business Federation of Meats and Meat Industries (FECIC), AECOC, the manufacturers’ and distributors’ association, meat business association ANAFRIC and the Interprofessional del Porcino de Capa Blanca (Interporc). Some of them will organise talks and debates at Intercarn, focusing on major challenges for the meat industry, such as the revaluation of the primary industry and sustainability.
Meat is the fourth-largest industrial industry in Spain, with a turnover of more than €31,000 M, 28.4% of the entire Spanish food industry, according to data provided by the Spanish National Association of Meat Industries. It accounts for 2.55% of the total GDP and it’s the largest employer in the food industry, with more than 119,000 direct industryal jobs. It also leads the exports of the Spanish food and beverage industry, having recorded more than €9,980 M in sales in 2022 (10% more than in 2021). Spain is the third-largest global producer of pork and it’s the leading producer of sheep and the fourth-largest producer of beef in the European Union.
The strength of the industry was evident at the most recent Alimentaria & Hostelco, which brought together nearly 3,000 exhibiting companies, 10% of them from the meat industry. More than 100,000 visitors also attended, 23% of them international ones from over 150 countries.
Barcelona, 6 July 2023
Susana Santamaría / Natàlia Torrent
ssantamaria@alimentaria.com/ ntorrent.op@alimentaria.com