“We expect close to 420 companies to take part,” says the Centre’s director Ivaylo Ivanov, “with 80 per cent of the exhibition space in all six halls having already been booked before the end of last summer.”

Many of the participants in last year’s event had declared at its conclusion their intent to make an appearance this year again, says Mr Ivanov, and this had prompted the organisers to launch the registration exercise earlier than usual. He adds that tasting and demo zones have been reduced in area, in order to accommodate the influx of new exhibitors.

Last year’s parallel shows attracted more than 19,000 Bulgarian and foreign experts and members of the general public, a 20 per cent increase over the 2014 attendance.

Bulgarian and foreign participation
“In order to attract new companies and more prominent participants, each year we take these exhibitions to the leading trade fairs in Europe,” says Mr. Ivanov. “What is new in this year’s format is the grown interest in countries outside Europe where some of the biggest exhibitions in the food industry are held,” he explains, noting that already applications to attend have been received not only from companies in Greece, Turkey, Macedonia, Italy and Germany, but, notably, also from Qatar, South Korea and Egypt.

International collective participation in these events has also witnessed an upsurge, with attendance already confirmed by groups of exhibitors in Italy and Hungary, and talks still under way with Spain and South Korea. Exhibits will also again be mounted by the embassies of South Africa and Poland.

As in previous years, the shows Meatmania, The World of Milk, Bulpek, Salon du Vin, and Interfood and Drink will see collective participation by Bulgarian meat-processing firms, dairies, wineries, fruit and vegetable processors and organic-food growers.

Of the 380-plus manufacturers, distributors and traders who took part in the 2015 exhibitions, 144 were first-time participants. They all displayed new food and drink items, including also the products of another 358 companies from 29 countries.