Vitafoods Europe has enjoyed another record-breaking year, with visitor and exhibitor numbers both significantly up on 2016. Almost 20,000 visitors attended the global nutraceutical event in Geneva – 13% more than last year. Furthermore, a record 1,034 companies exhibited – up 15% on 2016. This was the most international Vitafoods Europe ever, with exhibitors from 56 different countries, and visitors from 108.

Chris Lee, Managing Director, Global Health & Nutrition Network Europe, Informa Exhibitions, said: “It was an incredible event – the whole industry turned up. The sight of so many companies doing business, learning and networking made us really proud. This year’s record-breaking figures reflect the determination of the industry to innovate and overcome challenges, and we’re delighted to have played a part in that.”

Visitors found that the event’s growth created even more opportunities for them to network and do business. Inga Freimane, visiting from Aptiekas Produkcija, said “The whole exhibition was bigger than before, and we enjoyed it even more. The atmosphere was great, and we were able to use the event from both sides – to meet customers and suppliers at the same time. I made some very good contacts. We’ll definitely be back next year.”

Many of the exhibitors said that they had noticed increased traffic to their stands, and that visitors had come from a wider range of countries. Marie Blondel, Marketing Communications Manager, Europe, for Roquette, said: “More and more Vitafoods Europe feels like a very international event, which is great for us because we do business all over the world. It was great to build new relationships – we mainly met European customers, but also people from Asia and the US. For us, this is really an event that’s unmissable.”

And Megan DeStefano, Probiotics Global Marketing Leader at DuPont Nutrition and Health, said: “We had great booth traffic and a lot of interest in HOWARU(R) Shape, our new clinically proven probiotic for weight management. There was a very wide range of visitors, especially from across Europe. We had great meetings with current customers, and lots of really good discussions with potential customers. The visibility that we got has been fantastic.”