The French Connection

With under two months to go, attentions turn to this year’s FiE to be held in Paris.

A lot has happened since 2013.  There’s been a great deal of activity in speciality ingredients sectors and plenty of new innovation to show off at this year’s exposition. 

Certainly Food Ingredients Europe is a strong platform for new product launch but for INPROE the FiE is, first and foremost, an excellent opportunity to meet with industry professionals and benefit from their insight and opinion. 

FiE remains the destination of choice for the vast majority of product and service providers in our industry and a great opportunity to network face to face - catching up with existing clients and making new introductions.  Whether a quick five minutes over coffee or something more formal; opportunities for human contact add value over and above straightforward transference of information and should not be underestimated.

Information aside, it is in the nuances afforded by first hand contact that the value of human interaction lies.  Our dedication to professional and private digital services is well documented and certainly they are excellent foundations for communication. Social media platforms have made our lives immeasurably easier in some respects but they are limited in that they provide only the illusion of familiarity. 

First hand contact, clearly in evidence at events like the FiE, supports affinity, trust and co-operation and as yet is without equal as a platform for business development.

I expect to build on established partnerships at this years’ expo but equally I look forward to the unexpected interactions.  It’s these that can often lead to opportunities for partnership that defy your carefully crafted business plan and for me they are a most welcome bi-product of time spent in the company of other industry professionals.