Spanish Food and Gastronomy Conference in India 2009

For some time now, FIAB (the Spanish Food and Drink Industry Federation), with the support of ICEX and the Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, has been carrying out a program of actions aimed at promoting sales of Spanish food products in a variety of markets, especially in the hotel and catering, restaurant and gourmet segments, as well as within the large-scale distribution sector.
The Spanish Food and Gastronomy Conferences have a dual objective – firstly to support the promotional activities of Spanish companies in the sector along with their importers and distributors, and secondly to help companies launch their products in specific markets where they do not have a presence. After attending the IFE India Fair in Delhi with a group pavilion for five years consecutively, a decision has been made to change the focus in this market, and to hold the first Food and Gastronomy Conferences in the city of Delhi.
The Democratic Federal Republic of India is the second most heavily populated country on Earth, with 1.2 billion inhabitants, and forecasts predict it will overtake China in population by the middle of the century. Around 300 million Indians have purchasing power, with around 90 million having an income that gives them a consumption capacity similar to that of Europeans. The country has an annual growth rate in excess of 7% and has significantly lowered its tariffs since it joined the WTO, making it easier to export to the country. The conferences involve a combination of product exhibition along with specially-tailored seminars and tastings of the latest, modern cuisine tapas, which is a good instrument for promoting the culture of Spanish cuisine and allowing people to get to know the products and their quality.