The Summit, organized by IFLA and consultancy Kreab, this year has broken its record for participation, with more than 500 registered who have reflected on key growth areas in the global context. Latin America is a natural market for the sector thanks to language and, in fact, sales of Spanish products to this region grew in 2014 by 6.6% over the previous year.
Under the slogan “The World, What’s Next?”. The Secretary of State for Trade, Jaime García Legaz, was responsible for opening these days and used to analyze the challenges that the sector faces in terms of internationalization: “Opening new markets, promoting greater entrepreneurial talent and strength to win momentum and create strong and powerful brands to address the task of penetrating international markets. ” Also, Garcia Legaz applauded the innovative capacity of the food and beverage sector, and has appealed to “harness the power of the Spanish tourism sector to the internationalization of Spanish food products.”
Latin America is a natural market for the sector thanks to language and, in fact, sales of Spanish products to this region grew in 2014 by 6.6% over the previous year, reaching 889 million euros. Randy Millian, ex – director of Diageo Latin America, said “the profile of the Latin American consumer is very similar to Spanish, -very rooted with roots, and increasingly aware of and familiar with brands, an advantage that we know how to exploit “. For this reason, Millian also focused on the importance of brand building, insisting that “a brand should retain its identity and its roots, being able to transmit these values in one way or another in every country that We want to get “.
For his part, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Isabel García Tejerina, who closed the event, reiterated the support of his department to the food sector, and especially the Strategic Framework and its lines of action, which are aimed at strengthening further the role of the food and beverage industry as an economic engine of the country.
Aware of the importance of internationalization for industry, Phil Hogan, European Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that “being promoted new financial instruments for the food industry continue to support mobilizing key to continue investing in innovation to all agents “.
In this sense, according to Eugenio Martinez, Managing Partner of Kreab, “the sector is capable of suffering if not adapted to the times, and if it does not act as a block. We must be revolutionary, since we are facing a new consumer profile that is the most knowledgeable of the history. ”
The III Madrid Food & Drink Summit 2015 brought together key industry players to reflect on the key assets that allow companies to continue to develop and grow in a global context in the coming years.
The chef José Andrés, one of the most prestigious Spanish chefs internationally, and included in the list of the 100 most influential people in the world, according to Time Magazine, has served as ambassador perfect example of food products abroad .
Source: Food & Drink Summit
