China's leading nutritional ingredients event, Food ingredients (Fi) Asia China, Health ingredients (Hi) and Natural ingredients (Ni), took place this June 26 to 28 in Shanghai, China and was a great success. The show is the premier event in China offering a one-stop platform for the entire food industry.

The annual gathering for ingredients professionals, Fi Asia-China 2014 hosted six co-located shows spread across 17 halls of the SNIEC (Shanghai New International Expo Center). With over 3,000 exhibitors, this was the highest quality exhibition in China focusing on the food & beverage ingredients, nutraceuticals and pharmaceutical industries. The show has served the Chinese market for 15 years and continues to create a global meeting place for food professionals to source the ingredients they need, learn about the latest industry innovations and challenges and develop their business network.

Fi Asia-China 2014 was co-located with CPhI China, the world's largest ingredient tradeshow for the pharmaceutical industry. Fi visitors had free access to this exhibition along with five other co-located shows. The Starch Expo was newly introduced this year and is the only international exhibition for starch in China. The food ingredients section was enlarged to two halls this year and included Health ingredients (Hi), Natural ingredients (Ni) and Healthplex & Nutraceutical China (HNC), providing direct access to the industry's most innovative, finished products. Expo FoodTec showcased food machinery, packaging, and technology innovations in the food and beverage industry.

The 2014 Fi Asia-China welcomed 63,331 visitors over the three days (a 10 percent increase on 2013 figures) representing 131 various countries. According to the survey, 81 percent of international visitors regarded the show as important to their business, 92 percent regarded their overall experience as very good, while 73 percent claimed they will visit the show again in 2015.

Numerous features to enhance visitor experience were available at FiAC. Packed conference rooms showed industry experts provide key conference modules over the three days, while a free, bilingual mobile application helped visitors plan their day, meetings and have all show information. Innovation Tours, sponsored by Nutrimarketing, guided visitors around the halls to meet with exhibitors focusing on key areas, while the newly introduced Discovery Tours, in association with Leatherhead, allowed visitors take a topic focussed, self-guided tour. The new Exhibitor/Buyer programme matched visitors seeking specific products with relevant show exhibitors, and a matchmaking service with 21 Food, provided face-to-face meetings for international buyers with Chinese suppliers.

The total exhibiting area for all food related shows was 18,833 sqm., featuring 918 exhibitors including 112 international exhibitors. Eighty percent of international exhibitors found their exhibiting experience excellent or good, 81 percent would recommend the show to their colleagues and 57 percent said the show met with or exceeded their expectations. Over half of the 2014 exhibitors have already rebooked their booths for 2015, with 54 percent of the remainder likely to rebook for 2015.

We at UBM Sinoexpo appreciate the support of all the exhibitors and visitors who supported Fi Asia-China 2014! The show was hugely successful, with a substantial increase in visitors and a very positive response from both exhibitors and visitors.

We look forward to as successful an event next year in Shanghai, June 24 to 26, 2015!