Vitafoods Digital Week: Virtual events bring industry together amid COVID-19 unrest

02 Apr 2020 --- The spread of COVID-19 has led many industry events to take the digital route, with some praising these initiatives, while others flag the lack of face-to-face interaction with key contacts. Vitafoods is the latest trade show to go digital, and will be hosting a Digital Week, May 11-15, 2020, dedicated to “supporting and inspiring” the nutraceutical industry by giving exclusive access to the latest science, insight and trends. NutritionInsight speaks to leading players to find out what can be expected from the event, as well as whether such an effort can prove beneficial for industry and may even become the norm.

“A digital version is definitely a good solution to reach out to our audience, and still generate leads in the current climate of restricted travel, and event cancellations. However, I still consider face-to-face networking is very important in building long-lasting relationships, enhancing trustworthiness and connecting to people in a way that is simply impossible from a distance,” says Isabel Gómez, Global Marketing Manager, Nutraceutical Ingredients at Lubrizol Life Science.

“While nothing beats face-to-face events, the current global environment requires a fast reaction to provide industry with an effective digital meeting place that allows them to collaborate and find practical business solutions to the biggest opportunities and challenges ahead. It is also an opportunity to continue the knowledge sharing and dialogue that happens traditionally during the show,” a Vitafoods spokesperson tells NutritionInsight.

Pinning down the event
The five-day virtual event will provide attendees with a unique learning experience fueled by a curated series of webinars and podcasts covering topics such as European ingredients trends, healthy aging, immunity, sports nutrition and sustainability. The online event will also feature product showcases and provide access to a range of downloadable reports, articles and galleries, which will be made available for free throughout the week.

“While nothing beats face-to-face events, an effective digital meeting place allows industry to collaborate and find practical business solutions,” Vitafoods' organizers note.A preview of Vitafoods Europe’s State of the Nation report will also be made available during the week. Featuring an in-depth analysis of the nutraceutical industry and what lies ahead for the next decade, the full report will be launched at the show (now September 1-3 2020, Palexpo, Geneva) to provide insight-driven commentary to inspire the industry, and ultimately the end consumer, to help “shape the future of the food industry.”

The Vitafoods Digital Week will also include webinars (with Q&As, podcasts, product galleries, articles and reports. Activities such as yoga will also be offered during Vitafoods Digital Week, according to the event organizers. The agenda and links to the content can be found on the website, with reminders sent out in advance. 

Innova Market Insights is a confirmed knowledge partner of the event, which is a role that has been created to support the industry in finding new ways to work more smartly and seek inspiration, drive conversations and inspire connections online. This week, the market researcher revealed that collagen is moving into the mainstream, with launches seeing annual growth of 27 percent since 2015. 

Bringing industry together
A broad range of exhibitors will be showcasing their products during Vitafoods Digital Week, including Pharmalinea, Mibelle AG Biochemistry, Pharma Base and Ayanda (Sirio Group). Further brands will be announced over the next few weeks, the spokesperson reveals.

“In light of the unprecedented challenges facing the global industry, we wanted to bring the nutraceutical community together in a way that allowed us to collaborate as we usually do in person to understand how we can continue to support consumer health into the future,” the organizers comment. 

“We will be supporting the Vitafoods Digital Week as we think it is a great initiative. During these challenging times it gives everyone in our industry the chance to stay connected and proceed with some of their marketing plans, although certainly in a different way. This will be a learning experience for everyone and we look forward to participating,” comments Andie Long, Manager for Marketing & Sales at AstaReal.

Andrea Zangara, Head of Scientific Communications & Marketing at Euromed, notes that the company will be attending the digital event. He further notes that “companies may find this option a great creative and effective way to connect and update the industry, considering the cancellation or postponement of trade shows.”

Meanwhile, Gómez says that Lubrizol Life Science has already started promoting digitally its Astagile microcapsules that will be launched at Vitafoods. 

“I am constantly attending online seminars and events as they are a great way to get very interesting and affordable market insights that can help us grow our business. On top of that, you can also connect with a larger and more international audience, many whom you’d never be able to meet at a physical event,” Gómez further highlights.

Pharmactive also plans to attend the digital event. “It is the best solution under the circumstances but maybe it can be extended to a complete online-tradeshow to give space for more companies to show their innovations,” underscores Julia Diaz, Head of Marketing at Pharmactive. 

“This expansion of our digital offering will allow us to continue supporting and inspiring the nutraceutical community through the latest science, insights and trends – as the world adjusts to this ‘new normal,’” the Vitafoods spokesperson concludes.

In the same spirit, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) recently announced that it will transition the IFT20 Annual Event and Food Expo – previously slated for July 12-15 at McCormick Place in Chicago, US – to a “virtual event experience” for its 20,000 global attendees. 

In light of the rapid developments related to COVID-19, NutritionInsight has launched a new daily news feed for the coronavirus-related information and insights you need to guide your business through this challenging period.

By Kristiana Lalou