ANUGA continued.

Cologne is Germany’s fourth largest city and home to Koelnmesse, a leading trade fair and convention centre, and the location of this year’s Anuga trade fair. Anuga brings ten different trade fairs in close proximity of one another, and is considered to be the largest international food and beverage exhibition. In the past, over 6,000 suppliers and 161,000 visitors from around 157 countries have been in attendance at Anuga. 53 percent of these attendees came from abroad. The fair hosts manufacturers, wholesalers, and importers of food and drinks, catering technology, retail technology, and anything else that someone doing business in this industry could possibly need. When entering the building one will quickly notice the different fairs are arranged by theme. This arrangement makes the fair easily accessible and user-friendly for all those in attendance. The largest of all the Anuga trade shows is the Anuga Fine Food fair. The Fine Foods fair is aimed mainly towards companies offering gourmet products. Some of the other shows include Anuga Organic, Anuga Dairy, Anuga Frozen Food, and Anuga Drinks. The large variety of different shows guarantees there is a place of interest for anyone attending the show.

It makes perfect sense that such a large and diverse show is being held in Cologne because, with a population of over one million people, Cologne has become one of the most important centers in central Europe for economy, trade, and science. This makes Cologne the perfect place for companies looking to grow and expand their exporting business internationally.

One such company that will be in attendance at Anuga is Dave’s Gourmet, Inc. The company, which began with a small restaurant called Burrito Madness, is now nationally and internationally known for their hot sauces alongside the seventy other products the company offers. Dave Hirschkop, founder of Dave’s Gourmet, has been in attendance at Anuga for the past three years. While the company’s main exports are to the United Kingdom and Canada, they do some exporting to other parts of Europe as well as parts of Asia. The company is also looking towards growing into other areas. Hirschkop is looking forward to attending Anuga again this year and says, “Being that Anuga is such a big show in terms of both exhibitors and attendees it is a great opportunity to both sell and to taste foods from all over the world.” Dave’s Gourmet, Inc. currently exports to Germany, and is looking forward to further expanding their name at Anuga. Dave’s Gourmet products are popular in this area, because they offer something that can’t be found in other products. Hirschkop explains, “Our biggest exports to Germany are hot sauces, and this is because we make sauces that are much hotter than normal. Worldwide people’s tolerance to and desire for spicy foods are growing.” This is beneficial to Dave’s Gourmet, Inc. as the company offers some hot sauces so hot they include the word “insanity” in their name. Hirschkop also explains that, while they are known for such sauces, the company is looking forward to introducing other products to these areas as well. “Our innovative pasta sauces probably represent an even bigger growth opportunity as pasta is the most consumed food in the world,” Hirschkop says. In this way Anuga will be helpful to the company, because they can promote their variety of products all in one place. The company has already seen immense growth, and is excited to continue by expanding into many regions including the country that is home to Anuga. Hirschkop says, “While we are an 18 year old company we have more than tripled our sales in the last four years. Over the next five years we would like to try and triple them again by creating innovative sauces and snacks that people love. We hope to be able to adapt these products for important foreign markets like Germany, Japan, and the UK and thereby greatly increase our sales there,” Hirschkop explains. This immense growth can be aided by attending Anuga and other trade shows where companies can show their products while also checking out what their competition has to offer.

Anuga offers companies, like Dave’s Gourmet, the chance to meet all of their needs for expansion and exporting in one place. The fact that it is located in Germany, where many companies are looking to grow and increase business is an added bonus.