OREANDA-NEWS. The 20th edition of Prodexpo International Exhibition for Food, Beverages and Food Raw Materials was "an important step in the development of the food industry, as it contributes to the effective solution of the issues of food security, the saturation of the Russian market with quality food." This assessment of the largest food exhibition in Russia and Eastern Europe was given by Mikhail Orlov, the Director of the Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.

The exhibition was organized by Expocentre with assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation and the Moscow City Government and under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

From February 11 to 15, more than 2,200 companies from 63 countries displayed their products, know-how and advanced technology in all pavilions of Expocentre Fairgrounds at Krasnaya Presnya on total exhibition area of more than 47 000 net square meters or 100 000 square meters gross.

The main figures of Prodexpo’2013 were record-breaking. As noted by General Director of Expocentre Sergey Bednov the exhibition has grown five times since 1994.

The number of national pavilions has also increased. This year 34 countries have participated in the show at the state level. For the first time the exhibition welcomed national stands of Armenia, Morocco, Paraguay, and Montenegro.

At the same time the number of Russian exhibitors has increased greatly. Russia's food industry was represented at Prodexpo’2013 by 1,450 exhibitors.

Prodexpo’2013 traditionally featured an extensive business related program. The 8th Russian AlcoCongress, the 8th All-Russian Trade Forum, the 4th Forum of Manufacturers and Retailers, the 7th All-Russian Food Forum were part of the exhibition.

Russia's participation in WTO and food safety issues were discussed at many events of the business related program.

A great interest was generated by the Healthy Eating Annual Show and the conference "Development of Bio-Products in Russia." For the first time this year the International Eco Bio Centre was present at the show explaining some issues concerning certification of eco-products.

Prodexpo’2013 marked the beginning of a new project – Expocentre For Counterfeit-Free Exhibitions. Its mission is to fight demonstration of counterfeit products and illegal copying of new inventions showcased at exhibitions. The project is ongoing and will be present at other Expocentre’s shows.

The Retail Chains Purchasing Centre, where thousands of business meetings between manufacturers and suppliers with representatives from the top 100 retailers were held simultaneously, was in great demand.

An important part of the business related program was prestigious professional contests such as The Best Product, The Innovative Product of Prodexpo’2013, Choice of Retail Chains, the 8th International Contest for the Best Packaging and Labels for Food Products "ProdExtraPack", the 15th International Tasting Contest.