SIAL Paris 2024 will be the second one overseen by event director Audrey Ashworth, who has headed up its organisation since January 2022. Ashworth previously worked at Comexposium, where she was the head of the SIAL sales network from 2018 to 2021, as well as holding the role of EMEA sales director.
ESM caught up with her to learn more about SIAL Paris 2024, and what sort of special events are in store to mark its 60th anniversary.
ESM: This is a milestone year for SIAL Paris. What have you got planned for the 60th anniversary?
Audrey Ashworth: Well, obviously, we want to have something quite spectacular. The main objective is to have the whole audience participate, bring them all together.
The food industry is really about people. Of course, products are important, but often it’s the story, the passion, and we have created a story around that, where people and the audience are living it and taking part in it.
So, you’re planning an immersive experience?
We have worked on a series of performances that will enable us to share a special moment together.
What is the purpose of an event like SIAL? The first thing is to come together, of course, to do business. Some of our exhibitors and buyers already know each other, but many others come and meet for the first time during the show. That’s part of the story we want to tell.
This year’s SIAL has many new events taking place, one of which is the SIAL Summit programme. What are you doing differently with that, and how does it differ from SIAL Talks?
We’ll still be hosting our SIAL Talks series, as well as the pitching area in SIAL Start-Up. But with the summits, we are looking to have more input and discussions in a closed-door format.
CSR is now a strong pillar of SIAL, so that is the subject of one of the summits, along with supply chain, deep tech and AI, and Africa. With each, there’s an inspirational keynote followed by roundtable discussions and networking. I haven’t seen this format anywhere else.
There are some very inspirational speakers during these sessions, and, of course, the whole panel is really high level. There will be some really good takeaways from each of them, so I’m very excited about it. It adds to the learning experience from the whole show.
A lot of companies don’t have the resources to access this sort of high-level information. It’s part of our mission to give them this kind of information and insights, so they can decipher and make their strategic choices accordingly. That’s very important.
Obviously, the SIAL Insights report and the SIAL Innovation Awards are key to SIAL. The awards are being expanded this year, with new categories. What are those categories? Also, have any interesting themes emerged?
Well, there are many. To start with, I would say the first takeaway from the SIAL Insights report can be summarised in three words: emotion, connection and caring.
We’ve seen that, among consumers, innovation perspectives and out-of-home consumption habits are emerging. On top of that, there’s a very strong layer of tech, and affordability remains a prominent theme.
What’s the ‘caring’ aspect?
It’s all the innovation focused on health and wellness – functional aspects like brain health, focus, weight loss, menopause, various aspects that address personal well-being – and, of course, alongside that there’s the element of caring for the planet, which continues to be important.
We still see a good number of plant-based products, though perhaps fewer than before.
Another functionality we’re seeing a lot is products with claims about protein or probiotics – things that help people take care of themselves – but, at the same time, it doesn’t overshadow the emotional pleasure that food brings.
There’s no trade-off, exactly.
In terms of connection, we’re seeing more and more that while consumers cook for themselves, they also cook with their family, for their family. It’s about going to restaurants to share a good time with your friends and loved ones.
That connection is getting stronger, compared to what we saw at SIAL Paris 2022. People were very self-conscious, not really connecting with others before the pandemic. Now we’re more open, and that’s really good.
I often say that the more the world goes digital, the more we need in-person moments.
To answer your question regarding the awards, we have indeed created more awards, and we’ve changed some of them. For example, with the People’s Choice Award, we will compile the choices of the audience and the participants at SIAL. So, in fact, some awards, such as the CSR Awards, will be presented in a second slot.
We’ve constructed SIAL Paris 2024 around these key elements. Of course, ‘Own the Change’ remains a theme that we launched in 2020 and continue to highlight.
Obviously, there’s a SIAL summit focused on CSR, but you also have ‘SIAL for Change’, which seems to be a broader recognition of what the exhibitors and attendees are doing from a corporate sustainability standpoint?
What we want to do with SIAL for Change is build on SIAL Innovation, which is in our DNA, and develop a contest based on that. I should stress that it’s a contest, not a competition – the idea is to detect positive initiatives towards the transformation we need to see, and to share that.
This is the first year that we have done this, and we have received 67 applications.
It’s very exciting because, when we created SIAL for Change, we didn’t want to just favour big companies or large structures with all the resources to be highly advanced. Smaller companies that may not be as advanced but have the will to create something meaningful.
The SIAL Start-Up initiative is returning this year. Why do you see it as important to the fabric of SIAL? What do the companies participating in the process gain from it, and what does it bring to the overall exhibition?
Well, I think, first of all, in terms of context, we have SIAL Start-Up village, which we are creating for the second edition in 2024, but start-ups are everywhere. Often start-ups come with a national pavilion – in 2022 there were approximately 650 startups at SIAL Paris, and we expect to have the same number this time.
We are working with an expert called Sesamers, who is guiding them through the package we’ve created. They receive help with pitching, and there’s a pitching zone, where they can get feedback.
Some of their products will be selected and presented at SIAL Taste as well. The purpose of SIAL Taste is to bridge the gap between SIAL Innovation and actually tasting the products selected through SIAL Innovation.
That was the missing piece. It’s nice to see the product, but since we’re talking about food, it’s even better to taste it.
Are there investment opportunities for start-ups participating in the show?
We are working on having investors and venture capitalists present. In fact, we already have confirmed €2 billion worth of investors at SIAL.
Also, for the first time, we are really aware of how start-ups operate and what they need from us. Some start-ups can only attend for one day, then switch out for another day.
That sounds, logistically, quite challenging.
Yes, it’s quite difficult, but it’s what they need. Some of them can’t be there for five days – they don’t have the resources – so we’ve created a package for them. I want them to be there because I believe they are part of the future.
We’ve also created a space called SIAL Jobs, as part of our CSR pillar. We know how hard it is to recruit, so we’ve invested in a platform.
If a company has a specific recruitment need, they can come and state it. People from other companies or visitors can express interest, and there will be virtual matchmaking for recruitment. To read the full interview, subscribe or sign in.
For more information, visit www.sialparis.com.
