Informa Markets will hold Food Ingredients (Fi) Asia 2022 which is the 25th edition of the food ingredients trade show in Asia by presenting 300 leading food ingredients manufacturers from around the world at the Jakarta International Expo, Jakarta, 7-9 September 2022. Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Food and Beverage Producers (GAPMMI) Adhi S Lukman said, offline exhibitions for food and beverages must be held considering that during the last two years various activities were carried out virtually. “This is an opportunity for the food and beverage industry to find new products (in food and beverage ingredients). New product innovation is the key word for industrial growth and also to increase efficiency, reduce costs and so on," he said at Century Park Hotel Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday. Fi Asia 2022 will include international conferences related to the Halal Conference, namely the collaboration program of the Southeast Asian Food and Agricultural Science and Technology (SEAFAST) Center and the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB). Then held more than 40 technical workshops and seminars, Spotlight Product Showcases (highlight products in the exhibition) ranging from healthy snacks, alternative proteins, and healthy food ingredients, then Sustainability Square (an area that guests and exhibitors can visit to understand sustainability), student-made product competition, and seminar highlights on alternative meat foods.
The Fi Asia 2022 exhibition was also enlivened with eight pavilions related to Natural Ingredients, New Business, Beverage Ingredients, Thailand Pavilion, USA Pavilion, and Malaysia Pavilion, India Pavilion, and China Pavilion which were present in a hybrid manner. “Indonesia has a lot of alternative food sources such as sago, cassava, and so on. But these potentials are still not fully utilized, therefore Indonesia must be able to compete with other food industries by utilizing various existing potentials,” said Adhi. Advisory Council and Senior Scientist of the SEAFAST Center IPB, Professor Purwiyatno said that the COVID-19 pandemic raised awareness among the public regarding the urgency of health and its relation to food. Before the pandemic, various types of food had been detected and predicted to grow, but the development rate in this sector was not too fast. Entering the pandemic era, the pace of trade in various alternative food commodities has increased dramatically. “I call it functional food, ie foods that do not only provide traditional nutrients. So food usually contains nutrients, among others, for growth and development and energy, but (functional food) is also food that is able to provide the components needed to maintain health or other functions," said Purwiyatno.
