MULTINATIONALITY AT GASTROPAN – RECORD NUMBER OF FOREIGN VISITORS
The 14th edition of GastroPan exhibition, organized by Boro Info Group with the editors of Brutarul-Cofetarul and Gastromedia magazines and PanGastRo Academy generated three days of knowledge, business and networking in an event that presented innovative offers, ready to support the further development of industries. A sector characterized by enormous dynamism, innovation and export trend. An effective element found concretely at GastroPan: exhibitors from all over Europe present at the exhibition stands (Italy, Spain, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Hungary) to which foreign visitors arrived from the country, but also from outside the country. GastroPan 2023 thus marked the complete return to size as the main exhibition for bakery, confectionery and milling from Romania and among the first exhibitions in Europe for the ice cream, chocolate, coffee and HoReCa sectors. Along with the numerical data, above after all, it is the overall satisfaction of exhibitors and visitors that has them decreed success.
FOCUS SUBJECTS PRESENTED AT THE STANDS EXHIBITORS
trends, artisan bakery, health and sustainability, as well as digitalization, solutions and quality management. These topics highlight the more important trends in the industry, combine supply and demand and look to the future. The topic of food trends, for example, is about how food culture is developing, what new products presents the global baking industry and what possibilities alternative ingredients offer. In the artisan bakery area, everything revolves around traditional and modern crafts, vocational training and culture. Health takes first place in eating habits: the need for fresh, balanced, varied and high-quality food is, also a key aspect of new business models. Sustainability was a strong point of the exhibition, being another topic of interest: themes included the use of regional products and seasonality, the possibility of using ecological packaging and production which saves energy and resources. Digitization, a word that is used more and more in the bakery industry with the concept that everyone wants to be prepared for tomorrow, today! GastroPan presented new ways and methods for the bakery industry: from process optimization and automation through artificial intelligence to the possibility of increasing a customer loyalty through new sales channels and direct communication. With intelligent solutions using artificial intelligence and machine learning, exhibitors want to contribute to a future proven of the bakery industry. Another focus is on how turnkey solutions are important to manufacturing – they can increase efficiency, quality management and also sustainability.
NEW SOLUTIONS AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY
Artisanal ice cream was not lacking, presenting new flavors and tastes: kefir ice cream, whiskey ice cream, ice cream with the taste of Twix bars, Minion’s ice cream – combination of bubble gum and banana cream, the children’s favorite.
In addition to the basic raw materials for bakeries and confectionery, such as flours, yeast, dyes, chocolate, matured cheeses were also introduced, obtained according to Swiss recipes and technologies produced from milk from Romania; they differ in that they are not matured in foil or wax, ripens into red mold forming a crust natural becoming edible.
Among the product innovations, there was Bubble tea, a new vegan product that consists of tapioca balls; at the base there is a green or black tea, adding the balls, which break in the mouth, and syrup of fruits; another type of innovative products were certified ecological products – no added sugar and even a cream spread 100% organic from hazelnuts without added sugar and thickening agents; the main advantage is that they are producers of hazelnut plantations in the country, where the origin and quality of the raw material can be monitored by themselves.
Digitization was a strong point of the exhibition observing more and more that the focus is on innovation and digitization, and visitors are open to new things, to know what digitization consists of, but also to implement it in their own business. They introduced themselves digitization solutions in bakeries – where it is managed from the ingredients side to the recipes and orders side and on the production side you get scales from the bakery and it helps the bakers not to mistake the dosage of the ingredients, thus you can digitize everything, disappear sheets and human error having a positive impact for the environment. All in one service for restaurants, cafes, gelaterias, confectioneries were presented to visitors through services that develop their own sales channel through website and mobile application; the sales channel is aided by an advanced marketing mode with different marketing methods (Customer selection, coupons, vouchers); and finally, the customer can order directly from the application, thus helping the staff and reducing time.
Even those who have a HoReCa business had no shortage of news, thus, they had the opportunity to know and experience the machines for the preparation and processing of fruits and vegetables with a productivity of 20 kg up to 150 kg/hour with 53 different cuts. Outdoor spaces presented the latest atypical commercial and stylish caravans and round trailer with everything needed (gas, water, electricity, photovoltaics panels, silent gasoline generator) with the possibility of making any mobile application (ice cream shop, traditional cuisine, grills, sushi, pasta), more precisely any application on wheels.
Environmental impact is becoming a primary issue for food industry establishments, but global trends are coming in our country too: electronic labels appear that update thousands of labels in just minutes, changing prices becomes a process fully automated, where errors are reduced to 0 being resistant in time, with low power consumption and long battery life for about 10 years. The smart cabinets for food delivery, the compartments with heating function and disinfection after use or refrigeration function were a stopping point for HoReCa operators.
Bakers and confectioners competed at GastroPan Competitions to win the most wanted Cake of the Year and Bread of the Year trophies. The competitions were themed around consumer demands and preferences based on sustainability, clean label and food functionality.
The Cake of the Year 2023 was characterized by a gluten-, sugar- and additive-free product, with 9 different elements, and the Bread of the Year 2023 was won by a bread obtained from white flour combined with black flour with 5 types of seeds. In addition to these, products with butter cream with rose, butter cream with lemon and fresh mint, pear compote, bakery products with linseed, rye, corn, pumpkin, cumin, chia, sunflower, dried plums obtained by the cold fermentation technology were presented. The category dedicated to students and pupils was a real success, registering more than 15 teams with products and innovations representing a ramp of launch for the younger generation. At the official GastroPan site we present some of the competitors.