The 13th SIAL Canada event has just wrapped up at Montreal’s Palais des Congrès, having run from 13 to 15 April, and welcomed 928 exhibitors from 50 countries, and 17,300 visitors.
SIAL Canada, featuring technology and equipment section SET Canada, has once again proven to be a success, says Executive Director Xavier Poncin.
"If we want to look at the highlights for this year, first off, there were a record number of visitors, with 17,300 professionals from every agri-food sector and from all over Canada and the United States," he said.
"This constitutes growth of 17 per cent as compared to 2014. SIAL Canada has confirmed its unique position as a major North American one-stop-shop tradeshow, offering equal parts innovative food products, equipment and services."
This year’s show hosted 25 conferences touching on pressing topics, as well as 20 demonstrations and discovery workshops promoting the products and know-how of Canadian artisans.
Some of the event’s highlights included the SIAL Food Hub, which focused on Foodservice Costing and and Increasing Profitability as a topic, and welcomed over 50 foodservice professionals.
It also played host to the Olive D’Or, North America’s biggest international extra-virgin olive oil contest. More than 100 oils from 15 countries were entered, and the 12 best were selected as the Golden, Silver or Bronze Drops in their respective categories.
Now in its 3rd edition, the LAB focused on the senses, as well as culinary chemistry. Yan Garzon, the corporate chef at Testek, took on the role of 'Chief Chemist' at SIAL Canada, and over the course of 3 days, managed 4 discovery stations where everyone’s senses were busy taking in new gastronomy experiences and learning about the latest practices in food service.
Meanwhile, Cheese by SIAL benefitted from a 6,000-square-foot space for its 3rd edition, with dozens of cheeses from Quebec, Ontario and outside the country made available for tasting throughout the show.
Finally, the winning product of this year’s SIAL Innovation contest was Essence Desserts’ Assorted Chocolates with Sorbet and Ice Cream Centers, which beat off stiff competition from 80 other entrants to take home the 2016 Grand Prize.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Jenny Whelan. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
