Produced by the Food Processing Suppliers Association and described as the industry’s only single-destination food equipment expo featuring end-to-end processing machinery and services across all food sectors, Process Expo comes to Chicago’s McCormick Place November 1-4.
This 100% food-focused event attracts attendees from the world’s leading food companies who are looking for solutions that will help them more rapidly, efficiently, safely, and successfully create new food products and bring them to market.
FPSA and its predecessor associations have been offering trade shows to the food industry for more than a century. These supplier-owned and managed trade shows had a variety of names and were offered in numerous venues. But they were guided by the same principle that characterizes the new Process Expo: To deliver the most valuable trade show experience to food industry suppliers and processors at the lowest possible cost.
In the early years, the FPSA trade show was one of many serving vertical markets in the food industry in every region and state throughout the country. But with the expansion of air travel, the development of the interstate highway system, consolidations in the food and beverage industry, and commensurate consolidations in the supplier segments, trade shows experienced similar transformations. The Dairy Show became the Food and Dairy Expo. The Canners Show became the International Exposition for Food Processors. Finally, the last two became Process Expo, owned and managed by the suppliers who make up the FPSA.
Food and beverage industry professionals attend Process Expo to get solutions to the industry’s most pressing challenges and meet others who can help improve their products. At Process Expo attendees will find technology innovations, new equipment, solutions for every link in the food industry supply chain, and educational programming that focuses on critical issues.
Nearly 30 hours of educational programming are offered over the course of the show. While these sessions are free to attend with registration, attendees are encouraged to sign up for all individual sessions of interest as seating is limited. The 2011 program features three main areas of interest to attendees:
• Manufacturing Solutions: Practical Responses to Food Industry Challenges—Taking place at the start of each day of the show, these sessions focus on key issues of concern in the food and beverage industry and offer practical solutions that can be incorporated into manufacturing operations today.
• Seminario de Innovaciones—Dedicated entirely to Process Expo’s attendees from Latin America, this program runs throughout the day on October 31. These sessions are presented in Spanish and are sponsored by Process Expo’s international partners—Canainca, Canilec, Comecarne, and Chilealimentos.
• Siemens Exhibitor Spotlight Theater—Process Expo exhibitors will deliver a series of short technical workshops throughout the day on the show floor covering a variety of topics interesting to food processors. Take a break from the busy show floor to sit and listen to experts discuss manufacturing solutions.
Having surpassed the milestone of 200,000 sq ft, which surpasses the size of the 2010 show floor, Process Expo is poised for success, says Scott Scriven, chairman of the FPSA and president of Weber, Inc. “This milestone really speaks to the commitment of suppliers to the food and beverage industry,” adds Scriven.
Online registration for the show, as well as a complete list of exhibitors and the updated floor plan for Process Expo, can be found at www.myprocessexpo.com.
