Saudi Gazette CAIRO — The 6th edition of Africa Food Manufacturing (AFM) 2017 that recently concluded held under the theme of "Smart Manufacturing in Cairo" is considers as one of Africa's leading food processing and packaging exhibition. Held last April at the Cairo International Convention & Exhibition Centre (CICC) in Cairo, it brought innovation to the food manufacturing sector under the theme ‘Smart Manufacturing'. The 2017 theme sets the stage for innovation. Africa's increased demand on the food and beverage industry, fuelled by its growing population, called for a focus on smart processes in manufacturing to improve and optimize production whilst reducing waste and downtime. Over three days AFM offered visitors the chance to source the latest equipment and technologies designed to help optimise processes, manage costs and improve quality. As the leading industry trade fair in Egypt and North Africa, AFM gathers over 250 world leading brands including Bosch, Dohler and Orana – who brought their latest range of machinery, technology and ingredients to support the entire lifecycle of the food manufacturing process. The show covered 17,500sqm of exhibition space, it also hosted of country pavilions including Italy, Turkey, China and India. Bosch Packaging Technology, one of the leading suppliers of process and packaging technology, took a part of the AFM. According to the company, they showed a new innovative vertical form, fill and seal machine called SVE 2520 DZ – the fastest vertical bagger with Doy Zip functionality currently on the market. It has a footprint of only six square meters, produces up to 100 high-quality Doy Zip bags per minute and offers all of the most popular bag styles on one machine. Doehler, a global producer, marketer and provider of technology-driven natural ingredients, ingredient systems and integrated solutions for the food and beverage industry also present this year, with a motto of "Think global – act local", Doehler analyse the global food trends and adapt them to products and concepts that are tailored to the specific needs of the different countries. They presented inspirations for new beverages and food products to the visitors at AFM, which include innovative ingredient solutions that are customizable to any business and enable safer and more efficient production processes. Exhibition Manager Alexander Hawkes said "in essence, there were only one or two companies in the 2016 edition of the event dedicated to promoting the latest Ingredients technology and innovation. This year we virtually have an entire hall dedicated to it, and most of the major players that have factories in Egypt are exhibiting this year. Major brands that are participating this year include Dohler (Global HQ - Germany), Dupont (Global HQ – USA), Orana (global HQ – Denmark), Lactelis (HQ France), and Palsgaard (global HQ). All of these are global market leaders and all of them are new to AFM." Africa Food Manufacturing is co-located with Food Africa.
