Registration now open

Registration is now open for attendees and exhibitors of Worldwide Food Expo 2009, North America's largest food and beverage technology event. With more than 900 exhibits and 50 targeted conference sessions, Worldwide Food Expo will highlight the latest innovations in food and beverage manufacturing, packaging, ingredients and services, October 28-31 at McCormick Place in Chicago. 

Sponsored by the American Meat Institute and the International Dairy Foods Association, Worldwide Food Expo attracts approximately 20,000 attendees from 100 countries, bringing together decision-makers at all levels of the food and beverage industry, including executives, plant managers, purchasing agents, engineers, researchers and operations managers.    

Attendee and exhibitor registration information, dates and deadlines, hotel rates and maps, ticketed event and on-site registration details and accessibility options are all located on the registration page.

Priority registration includes significant savings for attendees and admission to both co-located events -- the AMI International Meat, Poultry & Seafood Industry Convention and Exposition and the IDFA Food, Dairy & Beverage Expo. The cost for attendee registration is $125 and increases $50 after the September 16 pre-registration deadline.         

Exhibitors and attendees can also use the My Show Planner on the Expo to access the interactive floor plan and map their trip through the show floor, preview much anticipated new products set to enter the industry and save it all under their personal profile. Utilizing the Web site's My Show feature will allow attendees to create a personalized itinerary prior to the event.




Expo to showcase latest innovations

The latest innovations in meat and beverage product development will be showcased in the Seasonings, Flavorings and Ingredients and the Sustainability pavilion at the 2009 Worldwide Food Expo.

The Seasonings, Flavorings and Ingredients Pavilion will highlight new trends in the increasingly important category of product additives and enhancements. Cooking demonstrations will incorporate the recipes and new products that will be featured in several of the educational sessions.

"I’m looking forward to the spice and flavor venue at the Worldwide Food Expo," says Miriam Erickson Brown, president and CEO of Anderson Erickson Dairy Co. "It’s new and I want to try some new things."

The Sustainability Pavilion will present services or products to help processors and packagers meet the growing demand for sustainability throughout their operations. Featuring the latest sustainability trends and best practices, the pavilion and related educational sessions will demonstrate how dairy executives can sustain a healthy industry and planet while increasing the bottom line.

"Attendees at the show will benefit from this timely programming and valuable exhibits on the important and complex issue of sustainability,” says Mark Dopp, AMI senior vice president of regulatory affairs.





Expo super session to focus on sustainability

Corporate sustainability expert Joel Makower leads off the "Super Sessions" at the 2009 Worldwide Food Expo on October 28.

Makower (www.makower.com) has been a well-respected voice on business, the environment and the bottom line for nearly 20 years. As a writer and strategist on corporate manager sustainability practices and clean technology, he has helped a wide range of companies align environmental goals with business strategy. He is chairman and executive editor of Greener World Media, which produces the acclaimed resource center GreenBiz.com and its sister sites ClimateBiz.com and GreenerBuildings.com; co-founder of Clean Edge, a clean-tech research and publishing firm; and a senior advisor at GreenOrder, a sustainability strategy consultancy. He also writes “Two Steps Forward” (www.readjoel.com) a popular blog on sustainable business, clean technology and green marketing.

The Associated Press has called him “The guru of green business practices.”

A former nationally syndicated columnist, he is the author of more than a dozen books, including Beyond the Bottom Line: Putting Social Responsibility to Work for Your Business and the World (Simon & Schuster), The E-Factor: The Bottom-Line Approach to Environmentally Responsible Business (Random House), and his latest Strategies for the Green Economy.

Makower has helped a variety of companies develop and implement their sustainability strategies, including GE, GM, Hewlett Packard and Nike. He is a Batten Fellow at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, an advisor to VantagePoint Venture Partner’s clean-technology practice and serves in a board or advisory capacity for a variety of other for-profit and nonprofit organizations.




Schreiber Foods, Upstate Niagara Cooperative win competition

A new milk product that tastes just like mint chocolate chip ice cream and a pomegranate blueberry cream cheese dip are the most innovative new dairy products according to a recent competition judged by dairy professionals. Sponsored by TIC Gums, the Most Innovative Dairy Products contest recognized the latest creative milk or dairy beverages and cultured dairy products. The awards were presented at the International Dairy Foods Association's 2009 Milk and Cultured Dairy Symposium, which took place March 31-April 2, 2009 in Kansas City, Mo. 

Upstate Niagara Cooperative’s creative take on a classic -- mint chocolate chip ice cream -- earned them the award for their Intense Mint Chip Milk. Schreiber Foods won for Most Innovative Cultured Dairy Product for their American Heritage Pomegranate Blueberry Dip.

"When the opportunity arose to sponsor the Most Innovative Milk and Cultured Dairy contest we jumped at the chance to support cutting edge dairy manufacturers," says Tim Carter, sales manager at TIC Gums. TIC Gums supplies a complete line of gums and gum systems to the U.S. food industry. "Our dairy innovations have continued into 2009 and so did our interest in supporting dairy innovators and the contest."

The 2009 Milk and Cultured Dairy Symposium explores cutting-edge innovations in the use of ingredients, processing technology, analytical methods, packaging and product development for milk and dairy beverages and for cultured products, such as yogurt, sour creams, buttermilk and cottage cheese.

"Winning the Most Innovative Dairy Beverage award is a great accomplishment for us – it means a lot to be recognized by our peers, who are all dairy experts with more refined palates than most consumers," says Eva Balazs, product manager at Upstate Niagara Dairy Cooperative. "Intense Mint Chip Milk joined our other milkshake-like flavors such as chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, matching the bold, indulgent taste of the popular mint chip ice cream." 

"Schreiber Foods is fortunate to have such talented market, development, and research teams working on behalf of our customers," says Deborah Van Dyk, vice president, industry and regulatory affairs. "While we take considerable pride in being recognized by our dairy industry peers for outstanding innovation, we take even more pride in being responsive to evolving consumer tastes and preferences that deliver strong sales for our retail customers."

IDFA thanks TIC Gums and Cintas Corp., the symposium's premier sponsor, as well as the exhibitors for recognizing the importance of the symposium to the industry. The exhibiting companies are: Bienca S.A., California Custom Fruits and Flavors, DairyChem, Danisco USA Inc., Delkor, GTC Nutrition, Integrated Packaging Machinery, RealWorld Communications Inc. and SunOpta, Inc.




Call for presentations

The International Dairy Foods Association invites food and beverage industry professionals and interested academics to submit an abstract of 100 words or less, of a current presentation that is of interest to the dairy industry. These abstracts will be used to identify topics and speakers for the educational program at Worldwide Food Expo. Presentation topics might include: sustainability, business fundamentals, food safety, consumer trends, product development and food or dairy or beverage technology. In addition, dairy suppliers are welcome to submit abstracts on presentations that are educational and objective. Worldwide Food Expo offers five educational tracks, three Super Sessions and more than 20 breakout sessions.

Entries are due by April 30.

"Our goal is to provide Worldwide Food Expo attendees access to the best thinking, latest research and most engaging presentations available across the food and beverage industry," says Robin Cornelison, trade show manager for IDFA. "By issuing a call for presentations, we will be able to identify the research and issues that are most important to attendees."