More than 22,000 of the top food science and industry professionals from around the world will convene at the 2008 Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting & Food Expo, June 28 to July 1. Held at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center, attendees will learn about the very latest consumer trends, developments in scientific research, technologies and new products in the beverage and food industry.
The IFT Food Expo brings together buyers and sellers from all corners of the food science and technology world. With more than 1,000 exhibitors and 500 ingredient companies using 250,000 square feet of exhibition space, the IFT Food Expo is a one-stop-shop for trends, technologies and information in the food world.
Special pavilions on the show floor will include the International, Healthy Food Ingredients, Organic Food Ingredients, Food Safety & Quality, Global New Products (presented by Mintel) and Taste the Trend (present by Innova) pavilions. In the Taste the Trend pavilion, Innova will display a series of poster sessions and more than 200 international products, complete with opportunities for nine new beverage concepts and tastings.
Again this year, exhibiting companies at the 2008 IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo had the chance to compete for an IFT Food Expo Innovation Award. Commercial products, technologies, ingredients, instrumentation, equipment, services and new applications of existing commercial products/services that have been introduced since Jan. 1, 2007, and are exhibiting at the show were eligible to enter. Winning entries will be announced and awarded prior to the opening of the exhibit floor in New Orleans.
Back for the fifth year, IFT food scientists and chefs from the Research Chefs Association (RCA) will team up with student members from IFT and RCA to present live Culinology demonstrations on the IFT Food Expo floor. The product development collaboration will showcase Culinology, the blending of the culinary arts with food science. This year’s theme, “The Sustainable Plate: From Farm to Table,” will provide each team with the chance to display the challenges and opportunities associated with creating a wholly sustainable meal option. Each day, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., a new team will present a fresh take on food development, from ideation to final product.