Registration is now open for ProFood Tech 2019 (March 26–28, 2019; McCormick Place, Chicago), the only event in North America focused exclusively on all food and beverage sectors, featuring 7,000 processing professionals and 450 of the world’s top suppliers with booths covering 150,000 net square feet of exhibit floor.

“The success of the inaugural ProFood Tech confirmed that the industry required an all-inclusive, one-stop shop for its food and beverage processing needs,” says Jim Pittas, president and CEO of PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, and owner and producer of the PACK EXPO portfolio of trade shows. “We are excited to continue our partnership as we build upon offerings to ensure that every show is better than the last. Adding value to the industry is our primary goal.” 

Produced by three of the world’s trade show leaders, PACK EXPO, Koelnmesse - organizer of Anuga, and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), the three-day event will showcase cutting-edge crossover technologies and innovative solutions for professionals involved in dairy, beverage, baking and snack, meat/poultry/seafood, confectionery, grain/mill/cereal, fruits and vegetables, pet food/pet care and ingredients.

“The inaugural event in 2017 set just the right tone for the show, and we’re building on that foundation,” says Neil Moran, IDFA senior vice president of finance, administration and trade show. "Based on conversations with attendees and exhibitors, we heard that the new show provides countless growth opportunities for companies willing to employ new technology and techniques to boost production, efficiency and profits.”

As an international partner, Koelnmesse (organizer of Anuga FoodTec) offers a unique perspective and global insight to ProFood Tech.

“The model of Anuga FoodTec offers a unique perspective in the US exhibition market. ProFood Tech 2017 showed that it is up to the task of filling North America’s need for a food and beverage processing show,” says Denis Steker, vice president international of Koelnmesse. “With [Anuga Foodtec as a partner], ProFood Tech focusses on the food processing industries again in March 2019.”

Attendees in 2017 found great value in visiting the wide variety of exhibitors on the show floor.

“We are a milk manufacturing plant and our team [attended ProFood Tech seeking] innovations to help improve our operations,” says Hunter Braun, senior laboratory technician, Purple Cow Creamery. “We met with quality suppliers and some of us had a chance to sit in on educational sessions - which were all very insightful.”

Jose Ramon Baez with Grido Helado Argentinia shared a similar sentiment stating that, “with top-notch suppliers and educational resources under one roof, we had to attend ProFood Tech.”

Exhibitors were also pleased with the value ProFood Tech offered right from the start.

“[PACK EXPO, Anuga and IDFA] clearly identified a much-needed trade show and hit the sweet spot right out of the box with this first event,” says Charles Harlfinger, CEO, Harpak-ULMA Packaging, LLC. “[We] went into ProFood Tech on blind faith in [the partners] and it was a huge success for us, resulting in many opportunities to follow up.”

More than just an exhibition, ProFood Tech is the food and beverage processing industry’s gathering place for world-class educational offerings, networking events and award ceremonies.

ProFood Tech Knowledge Hub – IDFA is a leader in developing and delivering educational and technical programming for the food and beverage industry, including the new ProFood Tech Knowledge Hub. The educational line-up will address pressing business challenges with fresh ideas and strategies from respected leaders in the food and beverage industry, discussions on best practices and deep dives into consumer trends that are changing the food and beverage landscape.

This free programming will feature learning experiences from industry thought leaders in three separate venues on the show floor.

• The Impact Zone will encourage interactive discussions and offer opportunities to learn from the experiences and successes of industry colleagues.
• The Innovation Zone will feature breakthrough technologies, ideas and formulations designed to spark creativity, help find solutions and uncover fresh opportunities.
• The Disruption Zone will deliver a line-up of sessions for professionals to learn more about implementing disruptive technologies to meet consumer demands.

Cold Pressure Council Annual Conference – (March 26-27) Convened by PMMI, the conference is dedicated to high-pressure processing (HPP) and will feature insights from leading food processors, service providers and supplier experts on HPP best practices, the latest market trends and tips for packaging HPP products.  

Emerging Leaders Network (ELN) Event –The ELN connects rising leaders in packaging and processing through networking events at the PACK EXPO portfolio of tradeshows while offering resources including leadership development training, a quarterly e-newsletter and the On the Rise Awards program.

Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN) Event – The PPWLN will host a networking event continuing its mission to recruit, retain and advance women's careers in packaging and processing.

2018 Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards – PMMI Media Group publication ProFood World will honor exceptional sustainability achievements within food and beverage manufacturing operations at ProFood Tech. The 2018 Awards will focus on pollution prevention, enhanced environmental protection and stewardship, and compliance assurance. Submission deadline is Nov. 30, 2018; visit profoodworld.com to enter.

2019 Manufacturing Innovation Awards – PMMI Media Group publication ProFood World will recognize outstanding food and beverage packaging and processing innovation projects via the third annual Manufacturing Innovation Awards competition. Projects completed in the past 18 months are eligible to compete. Submission deadline is Nov. 28, 2018; visit profoodworld.com to enter.

Registration for ProFood Tech is $30 for a limited time. The price will increase to $100 after March 1, 2019. Register online at www.profoodtech.com.