With the presence of 25 countries, 1,100 national and international exhibiting companies, and the attendance of some 37,000 visitors, the Expo ANTAD & Alimentaria Mexico 2022 trade show was held in the city of Guadalajara, which generated close to $700 million in sales during the three-day event last May.
In an area of 55,000 square meters at the Expo Guadalajara venue, companies presented their products and services to meet the needs of a diversity of consumers with new demands and standards, said ANTAD’s president, Vicente Yáñez.
Yáñez noted that since the pandemic, consumer behavior and buying habits in the retail sector have changed. Precisely, the keynote lecture of the event, “Traits of the New Consumer Style,” dealt with this topic by Pablo Levy Covarrubias, Director of Research at UPAX.
“The world has changed. We are not going to go back to what we had; the online channel will grow in the coming months and years; we have to get into it, and those who are already there have to make sure that the products arrive quickly and well, and we are not talking about a question of prices. For those who will continue with their business in stores, the personalized experience will be one more requirement for the consumer to continue shopping there. We will be much more selective in how we shop,” said the market research expert.
Photo Gallery of Expo ANTAD & Alimentaria Mexico 2022
Francisco Cervantes, president of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE), highlighted Expo ANTAD & Alimentaria Mexico 2022 as part of the country’s economic reactivation and new ways of doing business. “Mainly in strengthening SMEs, since for self-service stores they are the economic backbone.”
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He also recognized ANTAD associates as “actors in Mexico’s economic recovery. We are the number seven country in global manufacturing and the 17th largest economy in the world, which is why collaboration among all economic sectors is necessary, as well as a commitment to public and private investment.”
Víctor Villalobos, Secretary of Agriculture, participated in the inauguration of Expo ANTAD on behalf of the president of the Republic, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He pointed out the importance of this business platform for the agri-food sector, which “goes hand in hand with the retail and food sector for Mexicans; they are the important link that complies with the requirements of the various federal laws that regulate the market, contribute to the treasury and show responsibility to the consumer with conditions of availability, price, and quality.”
For his part, the president of Expo Guadalajara, Federico Diaz, highlighted that this year exhibitors from 25 countries were present on the business floor of Expo ANTAD. Participants included Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Holland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States. “This figure gives us hope that the international theme is coming back.”
Yáñez told Abasto that they expected sales generated at this year’s trade show to grow by close to $200 million over the event held in October 2021. In turn, Ignacio Tatto Amador, ANTAD’s director of operations, highlighted the interest of U.S. companies in attending Expo ANTAD to do business.
The trade show was attended by 85 U.S. companies and 195 U.S. buyers who brokered deals to bring Mexican products to the United States.