The international trade show organizers behind VIV and VICTAM are combining their events planned for Bangkok, Thailand, in the early part of 2020.
This new partnership unites arrangements relating to the animal feed and grain industries show VICTAM Asia in March 2020 and the VIV Health & Nutrition Asia Trade Fair and Forum originally planned to take place in Bangkok in January 2020.
Both events will now be co-located at Bangkok’s BITEC exhibition grounds on March 24-26, 2020 as VICTAM Asia and Animal Health & Nutrition, by VICTAM and VIV.
Strong brands combined in a single event
“Presenting the shows as parallel platforms at the same time within the same venue is a great way to bring together two strong brands for the Asia market, in an integrated format so that the visitor experiences them as a single event,” said Sebas van den Ende, general manager of VICTAM International b.v. “It is certainly a much more convenient concept for the industry than the original plan of staging them separately in Bangkok, only months apart.”
“The discussions leading up to the partnership agreement have shown clearly that both organizations share a firm belief in the growth prospects offered by the Asian market,” said Heiko M. Stutzinger, director VIV worldwide and managing director VNU Exhibitions Asia-Pacific. “Our own activities in Asia have gained significantly in importance over the past few years and we view the partnership for the March 2020 Bangkok event as a major next step in better serving the region.”
Feed technology now with added ingredients
Stutzinger added: “Both partners also share the view that we want to do more in serving Asia’s feed and animal protein industries by jointly developing business opportunities within the segments of feed ingredients and additives, recognizing that they comprise a fast-growing category within the Feed to Food supply chain. VIV has already made significant progress by including animal health more centrally in our events for animal protein industries. The focus in this case has been on medication and pharmaceutical ingredients with their related products and services. Many of these are applied to animals through the feed, of course. VIV’s own perspective sees animal health alongside nutrition as twin pillars supporting the further sustainable growth of the production in Asia of meat, eggs, fish and milk.”
Bigger show
Sebas van den Ende at VICTAM International predicts that the newly combined Bangkok event will attract more visitors as well as having a larger footprint in March 2020 by having exhibits and conferences on health and nutrition side by side with the displays and seminars about feed manufacturing technology.
“It is a better deal for everyone,” van den Ende remarked. “All under one roof you will find the latest information and systems for processing feed and grain, the application of the processed materials to animal nutrition and the connections to animal health.”
“VICTAM is formally constituted in The Netherlands with the status of a not-for-profit Foundation to do good for the animal feed industry. The agreement to put VICTAM Asia 2020 together with VIV Health & Nutrition Asia fits that objective because we believe the industry will be happy about it.
“Almost 20 years ago there was an occasion in Europe when VICTAM and VIV events had to be combined at the last minute due to an animal disease crisis. The market at the time reacted well to that combination with no negative comments. I think we will see a similarly positive industry response to amalgamating our Bangkok shows in 2020.”
“It must surely help that we are doing this in Asia. Looking around the Asian region there are many more examples of integrations operating both feed mills and farms than in other parts of the world. VICTAM Asia and Animal Health & Nutrition, by VICTAM and VIV, has an expanded profile in feed manufacturing and farm production that will suit the interests of integrated companies.”
Annual reunion
Stutzinger points to the extra benefit of continuity from having the Asian focus on nutrition and health in 2020, right in the interval between the recent VIV Asia show in March 2019 and the next one in March 2021. The timing directly helps professionals active in the Asian animal nutrition and health sectors who want to be sure they stay up to date, whether it is on product innovations and regulations, the effective use of ingredients and medication or the continuing global dialogue over the extent to which pharmaceuticals might be replaced by feed-related alternatives.
“A survey conducted in February this year has confirmed that professionals working in Asia prefer to meet on an annual basis and their preferred meeting place is Bangkok. We were already preparing to provide an appropriate platform for them in early 2020. Now with VICTAM Asia and Animal Health & Nutrition, powered by VICTAM and VIV, all professionals will find a supercharged event covering the full feed spectrum and also health products for all farm animal species. It gives everyone even more reason to come to Bangkok, refresh their knowledge and network across the animal protein industries in the Asia-Pacific region,” Stutzinger said.
VICTAM Asia and Animal Health & Nutrition, by VICTAM and VIV, will be marketed jointly by VICTAM’s and VIV’s sales teams. Pre-registration to attend will be available shortly through a newly created website.