The Food Platform of Türkiye aims to enable WorldFood Istanbul, the largest sector fair in Eurasia, to reach new records regarding the numbers of visitors, participants, foreign purchasing professionals, and business volume.
WordFood Istanbul, to be held for the 31st time at TÜYAP Fair and Congress Center between September 6-9, 2023 this year, will host nearly 1500 participants, over 60 thousand visitors, and over 700 international VIP purchasing professionals. ALZ Fair, one of the pioneering organizations in the fair sector in Türkiye, will participate in WorldFood Istanbul, which brings the umbrella organizations of the food sector in Türkiye together through this historic cooperation, as the “Cooperation Organization”.
“Our aim is to make Türkiye a meeting point for the food sector across the world.”
TİM Sector Council President Ahmet Tiryakioğlu, who was elected as the President of the Fair
Committee of the Food Platform of Türkiye which will contribute to WorldFood Istanbul which has
achieved significant success so far through the organizations of ICA Events, a leading actor in the
fair sector in the world, stated that they aim to hold one of the most efficient fairs in the world in
Türkiye with support of valuable figures and said:
“We are one of the countries that lead the food sector in the world owing to the fact that our geography is convenient for production and to the centuries-old accumulation of knowledge of our people. Besides, another field where we are highly equipped as the private sector is exhibitions. As the Cereals Sector Council, we believed that we could hold the world’s leading food fair in our country by taking support from these opportunities and demonstrated our strong will together with all the Unions in our sector council. Under the guidance of our Sector Council, all of our Exporter Unions, TGDF, ETÜDER, ICA Fair, and ALZ Group came together and established the Food Platform of Türkiye. As the Food Platform of Türkiye, our aim is to transform WorldFood Istanbul, the largest food fair in our country, into the biggest and the most prestigious food fair in the world, and to make our country a meeting point for the food sector across the world.”
Indicating that they express their gratitude towards Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, the President of TOBB (The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye), for supporting the Food Platform of Türkiye all along the line in this process, and that they believe that they will reach their goals in a very short time thanks to this project, where the most important actors of the Turkish food sector meet, Tiryakioğlu thanked Mustafa Gültepe, the President of TİM, for the support and concluded his words:
“We are also carrying out a very meaningful social responsibility project as a part of WorldFood Istanbul. We will organize an event called B2B Bilateral Business Negotiations, which will be held exclusively for food producers in the earthquake zone, as part of the fair organization, bringing together foreign business people from all over the world and producers from the earthquake zone free of charge,so that regional producers can establish new export connections. We wish for WorldFood Istanbul, growing stronger with the Food Platform of Türkiye, to do good in the food sector of the world.”
Sector Stakeholders Fully Support The Food Platform of Türkiye
Underlining that WorldFood Istanbul is a critical platform for foreign companies to discover the Turkish food sector, communicate with the important producers and exporters in the sector, and know the products of our country, the President of Istanbul Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Exporters’ Association, Kazım Taycı said, “Our aim is to transform WorldFood Istanbul Exhibition, where the heart of the Turkish food sector will beat, into one of the biggest international food fairs in the world with contributions of the stakeholders of the cereals and food sector.”
Celal Kadooğlu, the President of Southeastern Anatolia Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Exporters’ Association, expressed that they try to work harder stoutly and resolutely in these difficult times and that they have gathered under a single strong roof like the Food Platform of Türkiye with the trust and belief they have in our country, and said, “We are determinedly maintaining our works on the way to bring our country the most prestigious food fair in the world under the wings of our platform. As the Turkish food sector, we draw our strength from our association.”
Veysel Memiş, the President of Mediterranean Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Exporters’ Association, indicated that they fully believe that the cooperation between the Food Platform of Türkiye, which developed as a result of the precious efforts of our sector council, and WorldFood Istanbul will increase the activity in food fairs in our country and contribute to the promotion of Türkiye, and said, “I would like to express my happiness for being a part of this formation and making this contribution to our country as an association.”
Drawing attention to the changes in paradigms regarding the food all over the world in recent years, especially after the pandemic and the tension between Russia and Ukraine, the President of Central Anatolian Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Exporters’ Association, Nihat Uysallı said, “Our country has gained the opportunity to play an extraordinary and historic role related to food production, supply chains, and logistics. Because we believe that WorldFood Istanbul will serve this purpose, we decided to support the organization.”
Highlighting that Türkiye is a key supplier in healthy food across the world, the President ofAegean Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Exporters’ Association, Muhammet Öztürk said, “WorldFood Istanbul provides an ideal ground for foreign companies to discover the Turkish food sector, establish a connection with important people and buyers, and introduce their products to new markets. As a part of this formation, we are ready to provide as much support as we can to carry this organization to the next level.”
Eren Günhan Ulusoy, the President of Black Sea Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Exporters’ Association, stated that he thinks that the cooperation between WorldFood Istanbul and the Food Platform of Türkiye will significantly contribute to the strength of the fair and the promotion of the food sector, and said, “We fully believe that WorldFood Istanbul, which will acquire a new dimension and grow further with contributions of the Food Platform of Türkiye, will be the biggest food fair in the world.”
Stating that they have been holding their breaths for WorldFood Istanbul, the President of the Federation of Food and Drink Industry Associations of Türkiye (TGDF), Demir Şarman said, “We are blazing a trail with this organization and creating an organization that gathers every stakeholder in the Turkish food sector under the same roof and will rank among the best-known fairs in the world in a short time. We care about coming together at such events in order to maintain a strong, competitive, and productive position for our sector which is in a strategic and indispensable position for food security.”
Drawing attention to the significant opportunities within our country’s geography in terms of agriculture and food, the President of Out Of Home Consumption Suppliers Association (ETÜDER), Melih Şahinöz said, “Given our commercial background, rich cuisine culture, and hospitality, Istanbul deserves to be the most important center of attraction in the world to bring trade together. WorldFood Istanbul will become one of the most significant contributors to our country’s trade, tourism, economy, and promotion. I believe that WorldFood Istanbul, which has become stronger with the Food Platform of Türkiye, will be the most effective fair in its field in the
world.”
The President of TOBB Türkiye Fair Sector Committee and the Chairman of ALZ Group Executive Board, Cihat Alagöz said, “A model of collaboration, that will serve as an example for many sectors, has been formed. I believe that Turkish fair sector will gain a world brand owing to this historic cooperation.”
Chairman of the Executive Board of ICA Events, Kemal Ülgen stated that WorldFood Istanbul has been leading the development of this sector and bringing the leading stakeholders together for 30 years, and said, “Introducing the Turkish food and gastronomy culture to the world, WorldFood Istanbul is a meeting point for leader purchasers. We have achieved a historic cooperation that will take this to the next level in this new period. In cooperation with the Food Platform of Türkiye, which has been formed by key stakeholders in the sector, we have made a structure for our fair that would appeal to all the components of the food sector. We want WorldFood Istanbul to be among the most important fairs in the world by taking it to the next level with the strength we take from the Food Platform of Türkiye. We are proud to contribute to creating a structure for our fair that will appeal to all the components of the food sector.”
WorldFood Istanbul hosted a business volume of 1.2 billion Euros in 2022
In 2022, WorldFood Istanbul gathered 835 participants from 25 different countries and over 2000 brands, 38,358 professional visitors from 163 countries, and hosted 12,633 international visitors and over 600 international VIP purchasing professionals from 77 countries as a part of the VIP Buyer Programme.
Historic cooperation between the umbrella organizations in the food sector
