February 18 to 20 Detrop & Oenos – FEA Awards – Golden Olive Expo – Culinary Professionals Greece
In a specially designed space within the exhibition, the awarding ceremony of the food Experts’ Awards 2023 – The awards will be given by food scientists to 81 businesses in the sector.
The Detrop & Oenos exhibitions, which will take place from February 18 to 20 at the International Exhibition Center of Thessaloniki, will be qualitatively upgraded, innovative and enriched with a number of parallel events.
The two events gather this year in an exhibition area of 15,000 sq.m. more than 420 exhibitors from all over Greece and from Hungary, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Italy, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus. The Honored Region is the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, while the participations of the Regions of Central Macedonia, Western Macedonia, Western Greece, Thessaly, North Aegean and South Aegean, as well as the Chambers of Larisa, Halkidiki, Chania, Imathia, Pella and Emporikos are dynamic. and Chamber of Industry of Thessaloniki. Also, in stand 8, start-up companies will participate in a specially designed area, underlining the Exhibition’s perennial interest in innovative business ideas.
The two exhibitions will feature 136 foreign trade visitors from 19 countries, including individual hosted buyers, but also group visits from North Macedonia and Bulgaria.
But Detrop & Oenos is characterized this year by an important innovation. They are the first TIF-HELEXPO exhibitions that will be implemented as “Just Go Zero Events” in collaboration with the company Polygreen. Just Go Zero-HELEXPO aims to transform exhibition stands into proper sorting areas for the best possible recovery of materials. Exhibition waste will be collected in separate streams, in order for the largest possible volume to be forwarded for recycling. At the end of the reports the total amount of materials collected will be weighed and the results will be shared. In this context, both visitors and exhibitors are invited to place their waste at the sorting stations with the special markings.
Detrop & Oenos are flanked this year by innovative side events:
-The best varieties of olive and olive oil, their producers, the tasting, food pairing and the award-winning and extroverted products of Greek olive production are the “menu” of the Golden Olive Expo, a tribute that will highlight the productive and commercial potential of the olive and its prospects in foreign markets. Exhibitions with olive and olive oil products and derivatives, machinery, equipment and packaging, the B2B Lounge Area for targeted meetings of exhibitors with foreign buyers, the Open Stage Area for parallel events and workshops and the Olive Bar, an area for olive oil tasting, food pairing and networking, make up the content of the Golden Olive Expo. At the same time, the “Olive Oil Trophy” International Quality Competition for excellent olive oils and the “Table Olives Trophy” International Quality Competition for Table Olives will take place, where both Detrop exhibitors and businesses from Greece and abroad participate. The competitions are organized with the prestige and credibility of the Club of Friends of Olive Oil & Olives “Filaios”.
– In the framework of Detrop and in a special ceremony on February 18, the winners of the Food Experts’ Awards 2023, the international awards for innovation and excellence in the food and beverage sector organized by Cibum, the Greek site of food experts, will be announced.
-The International Southern European Cooking Competition is also organized by Culinary Professionals Greece in collaboration with TIF-HELEXPO, which is supported by Worldchefs (World Association of Chefs).
-Detrop, in collaboration with the Panhellenic Union of Food Technologists (PETET), with the aim of highlighting companies that seek the development and improvement of their products, will give the opportunity to selected companies to showcase these products in a specially designed area of the exhibition . At “Food Trends”, visitors will have the opportunity to see innovative products up close, as well as to be informed by experts and industry professionals about new market trends. PETET also organizes a conference on food safety and innovation.
-Among the parallel events are Detrop Bites, where the products of the exhibitors will be presented through ideal combinations of the dishes created live by the team of chef-partners, and also The Pairing Bar, where the wines of Oenos will be combined with food from Detrop exhibitors in a special tasting. Chef Stories is the company responsible for Detrop Bites and The Pairing Bar.
Detrop & Oenos will be inaugurated on Saturday 18 February at 18:00 at stand 10 by the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Mr. Giorgos Georgantas.
The press conference
The president of TIF-HELEXPO, Mr. Tasos Tzikas, mentioned the first organization of the Golden Olive Expo, as well as the participation of the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace as an Honored Region in this year’s exhibitions, during today’s press conference ahead of the opening of Detrop & Oenos, which he characterized as very important and with a strong element of internationalization.
Presenting the features and innovations of the two exhibitions, the managing director of TEF-HELEXPO, Dr. Kyriakos Pozrikidis, spoke, among other things, about the Just Go Zero project in collaboration with Polygreen, inviting exhibitors and visitors to participate in it.
For his part, the Regional Governor of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Mr. Christos Metios, thanked the management of TIF-HELEXPO for choosing his Region as an Honoree and described Detrop as emblematic in the field of agri-food. He also emphasized that Eastern Macedonia and Thrace is a basically agricultural Region, home to quality agri-food products.
The Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace has authentic culinary wealth, as reported by the Deputy Regional Governor for Agricultural Economy and Veterinary Medicine, Mr. Vassilis Delistamatis, announcing that the Region participates in the exhibitions with 30 businesses in the food and beverage sector, from wines and dairy products to cured meats and olives.
The Region of Central Macedonia participates in Detrop & Oenos with 54 companies, according to the Head of Innovation and Outreach of the Region of Central Macedonia, Mr. Sotiris Bato. He underlined the great business interest in participating in the exhibitions, while emphasizing that agri-food is the main “cog” of the economy of Central Macedonia.
Referring to Detrop, the general director of TIF-HELEXPO, Mr. Alexis Tsaxirlis, reminded that it is the oldest food and beverage exhibition in the country, the beginning of which dates back to the late 70s.
The representative of PETET Northern Greece, Mrs. Korina Lazaridou, spoke at the Food Trends event, which is being held for the first time, and also at the conference “Food Safety and Innovation, challenges and prospects in the new environment”.
And the co-founder of the CIBUM site specialized in the food sector and head of the organizing committee of the “Food Experts’ Awards 2023”, Mr. Nikos Gdontelis, spoke about the awards that will be given by food scientists to 81 businesses in the sector.
The deputy president of the Association of Culinary Professionals Greece, Mr. Christos Gotsis, referred to the organization of the 12th International Culinary Competition of Southern Europe with 400 participants from 15 countries, but also with a large number of visitors from Greece and abroad.
Ms. Sylvia Koumendaki of Chef Stories described the Detrop Bites and The Pairing Bar events as a feast of taste, which include many tastings of local products, inviting the public to make reservations for this different dining experience.
Finally, the commercial director of Just Go Zero by Polygreen, Ms. Haris Markakis, described the initiative in question in her recorded greeting.
The opening hours of Detrop & Oenos are as follows: Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 19:00 and Monday from 10:00 to 18:00.