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Recap June 2025
Could we attend an event every single day? June certainly made us wonder!
It was another month packed with flights, suitcases with magazines and promotional material and many hours travelling, especially in the food and drink space, with visits to the 3rd Next Generation Conference, European Food Manufacturing Summit 2025, Food Science Discovery Day at the Food Museum, and Spain Food Nation.
🚀 The month kicked off with Flora Food Group wrapping up its 3rd Next Generation Conference on the theme of “Shaping the next generation of food: innovation, experience & choice”. A new fun experience for the editor Rodney Jack, with about a hundred food professionals attending a great, thought-provoking conference.
Next up: two amazing days at the European Food Manufacturing Summit 2025 sitting in the room with giants in the supply chain field, listening, learning, and engaging with others to find solutions to problems the food industry is grappling with.
👏 Of course, our Food and Drink Technology team couldn’t miss the Food Science Discovery Day at the Food Museum – brilliantly organised by the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) – or the engaging sessions at Spain Food Nation, held at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
📖 Read the highlights here: https://lnkd.in/ekkt32G7
🍦 The Dairy Industries International team was once again travelling through the country to enjoy another Society of Dairy Technology Summer Symposium, the annual dinner, the International Cheese & Dairy Awards, at the Stafford County Showground. Always a pleasure catching up with everyone in the dairy world!
☕ Coffee lovers weren’t left out either, with World of Coffee Geneva making its much-anticipated return. Editor Vanessa Facenda and sales manager Chris Meer braved the heatwave to get their caffeine fix (and news fix!). It was a sweaty trip but very worth it! Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e_a4wgP3
🙌 And finally, to wrap up the month, CanTech International magazine editor Alex Rivers attended the Aluminium Federation (ALFED)’s House of Lords Lunch, which saw the official launch of the UK Aluminium Alliance (UKAA). A lovely opportunity to connect with industry experts in a very special setting.
Can July set a new record for events for our team? Stay tuned! 👀
Recap May 2025
We’re now officially in the second half of 2025, and what a year it’s been already!
May was dedicated to the Food and Dairy industries with with our team attending three key events: IFFA, IBA, and the Nordic Dairy Congress. ✈️
🍝 Food and Drink Technology sales manager, Ben Askew, and the editor Rodney Jack made their way to another edition of IFFA, in Frankfurt. The focus was on efficiency, sustainable production, performance, data and product variety – all central themes driving transformation in the meat and protein sectors
🚀 Shortly after, the team headed to IBA, where they reconnected with familiar faces, attended inspiring presentations and witnessed exciting competitions. It was a week full of collaboration, creativity, and forward-thinking ideas.
We certainly couldn’t miss another edition of the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Indianapolis. Confectionery Production editor, Neill Barston conducted exclusive interviews with Carly Schildhaus of the NCA, Ferrero, Mondelez International, PIM Brands, Perfetti Van Melle, Hershey, Ferrara, Tru Fru and Haribo, discussing the latest confectionery market trends, show reactions and new product releases. Watch here: https://lnkd.in/eZhdxWHz
👉 CanTech International magazine sales manager Sarah Hills née Rawlinson and editor Alex Rivers also made a quick visit to Tata Steel UK’s Trostre Works for a guided tour on how the company’s packaging steel is processed and its exciting plans for 2028 – read more about this visit here: https://lnkd.in/ec_UENtw
🐄 The Nordic Dairy Congress returned once again, in Iceland and the dairy team couldn’t miss it! The sales manager Samantha Bull and the editor Suzanne Christiansen made their way to Reyjavik to what was a “roaring success” – read our insights from the event: https://lnkd.in/eUA4QUUu
Over 300 attendees went on various visits to the golf course, MS Iceland Dairies’ Selfoss operations, plus Skyrland, and the Golden Circle Tour, followed by two days of interesting information and discussions in the city. Plus, there was a dinner trip to a Viking restaurant, involving some axe throwing (not at each other!)
💥 In the meantime, preparations for Asia CanTech Conference and Exhibition, World Confectionery Conference and Dairy Industries EXPO have been underway, and registrations are now open to all the events!
Recap April 2025
📅 Events in full swing! April was a nonstop month for our teams, with industry events taking place across the UK and beyond!
April kicked off with the 2025 edition of CanTech the Grand Tour. 🚆 Despite the transport strikes in Brussels, our attendees showed resilience and determination, ensuring the event would still be a success. A huge thank you to everyone who took part!
Next up on the list: FoodEx. Of course the editor Rodney Jack and the sales manager Ben Askew weren’t miss this – not ones to miss a key moment in the food and drink calendar 🍽️
Meanwhile, the editor Alex Rivers made her way to Leeds for the British Aerosol Manufacturers Association (BAMA) 2025 Innovation Day. 🔗Read her insights here: https://lnkd.in/eh6nccwp
Not long after, the CanTech International magazine team headed off to Cannex Fillex Denver! It was a packed few days filled with insightful conversations – some brilliant interviews coming very soon! Keep your eyes peeled 👀
☕ The tea & coffee team – Vanessa Facenda and Chris Meer – reunited in Houston for the Speciality Coffee Expo, before heading to London for the highly anticipated Women in Tea & Coffee!
Here’s to another month of travels, industry insights, connections, and collaboration!
Recap March 2025
It’s April fools and we still can’t believe March is over 🤯
The month kicked off with the State of the Industry Conference in Miami, offering valuable insights into the US market and a prime opportunity for industry leaders to exchange ideas. Neill Barston, editor of Confectionery Production, shared his key takeaways from the event: https://lnkd.in/eKR_5Vma
IFE 2025 opened its doors for another brilliant edition. The team was thrilled to explore the latest innovations and reconnect with familiar faces. We’re already looking forward to next year’s edition! ⌛
Dairy Industries International attended The Society of Dairy Technology‘s Spring conference, which was devoted to the cause of extending the shelf life of milk and dairy products 🧀 The editor, Suzanne Christiansen, and sales manager Samantha Bull managed to sneak in a visit to one of the four producers left in the country. Cropwell Bishop Creamery continues to produce the iconic cheeses from milk delivered from eight farms in the Peak District. The Beauvale blue cheese stole the show after some serious cheese tasting! 🏆
To finish the month off strong, we hit the road for the 2025 edition of CanTech the Grand Tour! A fantastic way to roll into April, bringing together insights, discussions, innovation, and collaboration 🚀
Recap February 2025
We blinked, and just like that—it’s March! 🌸 That means two things: Spring is on its way, and so is CanTech the Grand Tour! 🙌
February was a busy month for our team with some international travels and plenty of event planning.
Neil McRitchie, Chris Meer and Neill Barston kicked it off at the latest ISM and ProSweets Cologne shows, where we were proud to be a media partner. Did you catch Confectionery’s Production stand there? Read the full event review online or on the magazine’s latest issue: https://lnkd.in/eksxR5CE
☕ Shortly after, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal editor, Vanessa Facenda and sales manager Sophia Freeman headed to the 4th edition of World of Coffee Dubai.
If you attended, we hope you had a chance to visit our booth!
📅 With the CanTech the Grand Tour and Women in Tea & Coffee events just around the corner, the team has been busy preparing everything to welcome you this month in Brussels, and in May. If you’re ready to network and gain insights from industry experts, there’s still time to register.
Recap January 2025
We kicked off the year at the world’s largest gelato trade show— hashtagSIGEP — one of the most extraordinary events in the confectionery and food industry! 🍦✨
Our digital editor, Inês Coutinho , attended the biggest edition in SIGEP’s 46-year history, catching up with familiar companies, discovering the latest trends across various sectors, and, of course, indulging in endless hashtaggelato. A great start to 2025!
🚅 Shortly after, the CanTech International magazine team— Alex Rivers, Sarah Hills née Rawlinson, and Flora McRitchie headed to France for Paris Packaging Week. With a strong focus on hashtagsustainability, we had the opportunity to attend insightful talks, including one by Tom Giddings from the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation Ltd (hashtagAlupro) on the UK Aerosol Recycling Initiative.
Meanwhile, Confectionery Production, represented by editor Neill Barston and sales manager Chris Meer, is gearing up for another exciting ProSweets Show in Cologne. Want a sneak preview? 👀 Here you go: https://lnkd.in/e6t6–SB
Recap December
🎄 It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Two special double editions for CanTech International magazine and Confectionery Production are out now! Enjoy exclusive interviews, industry insights, and much more.
🚀 It’s not always that you get an invitation for an event at the House of Commons but that was how this month started. Our editors Rodney Jack and Alex Rivers had the privilege to attend a lunch reception hosted by the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation Ltd (Alupro) where the theme of the day was ‘Driving a real circular economy for aluminium in 2025.’ Read the blog all about it here: https://lnkd.in/eHBGMddU
🇩🇪 After FiE Ingredients, Germany was again on the list of countries to visit but this time the spotlight was on Choco Tech in Cologne. Chris Meer, advertising manager for Confectionery Production had a short but very sweet time at the event 🍫
🔎 Next up on the list was Belgium. Flora McRitchie and Aimee Carnell—the great events duo—made their way to Brussels to decide on next year’s site for the World Confectionery Conference. Drum roll… keep an eye on our page for the announcement soon, as well as CanTech the Grand Tour!
🎉To end the month with a celebration, Confectionery Production editor, Neill Barston, made it to The Top 10 Most Influential People in Cocoa & Chocolate 2024 by From The Desk of CocoaRadar. An exciting surprise to end the year. Congratulations!
🎅To wrap up the year the team of course had a brilliant get-together, with delicious food, celebratory drinks, Secret Santa (some 10/10 gift ideas), and a Christmas quiz!
🥂Thank you for being a part of our journey. We wish you a healthy, joyful, and prosperous 2025!
Recap November 2024
After an incredibly busy October, the pace slowed down, but we did manage to break our record for “most time spent in an airport”! Let’s recap ⏳
We kicked off the month at the World Cheese Awards with some very creative and intriguing cheeses 🧀🎉
Our digital editor, Inês Coutinho, flew off to Portugal to attend one of the world’s best cheese competitions ✈️She put her five senses to the test during the judging process and made sure to share every detail with us. Take a look 👀 https://lnkd.in/eaDmfbrx
Sarah Hills, our sales manager for CanTech International, attended the MPMA annual dinner which was, as always, a splendid event. “As always, the dinner and company were exquisite. We shared a meal with members of Team Tala, key personnel from the MPMA and I also finally had the chance to meet the wonderful Nicola Jones from Tata Steel UK. “ – Sarah told us about her experience 🙌
A few days later, our Dairy Industries International editor Suzanne Christiansen, flew to Rome to attend the European Dairy Association 2024 convention. The issue of the next generation for the dairy industry was top of the agenda, along with the pressures on livestock agriculture 🥛
The following week, our digital, dairy, and food editors were back in the air, this time to Frankfurt for Food ingredients Global Europe. ❄️ Despite an eventful start with storms, snow, flight cancellations, 12h inside an airport, and losing a day at the event, the team made it 🎉 Discover all about the event’s highlights on the blog from our editor Rodney Jack https://lnkd.in/eha66Png
It’s now time to get the office ready for the festive season! 🎅
Recap October 2024
It’s Halloween already? 🎃 October absolutely flew by!
For the past month our team, as usual, been busy on the road, meeting, sampling, writing and planning. Let’s recap? ✈️
🍫 We kicked off October with the return of our Confectionery Production magazine editor, Neill Barston, from Dubai. While he didn’t bring the sun back with him, he did bring some incredible insights into the latest industry trends. Have a look! https://lnkd.in/ei7mgcSQ
Next up on the events list was a trip to Paris – not just for the cheese! 🥐🧀 At the IDF World Dairy Summit, our editors Suzanne Christiansen and Rodney Jack took in the dairy expertise and explored the Fruitière de Plasne-Barretaine and affineurs Monts & Terroirs in the Jura region to discover the exacting nature of the Comté cheesemaking process. The perfect way to mix business and cheesy pleasure!
In the meantime our CanTech editor Alex Rivers was travelling again – after attending the second Global Aluminium Can Sustainability Summit – for the British Aerosol Manufacturers’ Association Forum & Awards before joining the team for one of the most exciting events of the year: Asia CanTech Conference and Exhibition! 🎉
The highlight of the month? Vietnam, hands down. Massive thank you to all our attendees to the event, as well as to the hotel’s events, catering and technical teams who helped make it all possible 🙌
November is looking to be an action and travel packed month as we start prepping for 2025 and for FI Ingredients Europe. See you soon! 👀
Recap September 2024
💭 September was a busy month for our team, with events across the country and even some international trips.
We kicked off the month on a sweet note with the fourth edition of the World Confectionery Conference, which made its successful return to the Belgian capital. We’re already excited to start planning next year’s event! 🍫
Dublin also called for the 11th International Whey Conference and for some very mandatory and well-deserved Guinness before our team’s annual BBQ (also known as the fearless table tennis showdown). 🎾
We attended another edition of the Speciality & Fine Food Fair where we had the opportunity to meet some fantastic brands and discover the latest consumer trends. Of course, we couldn’t resist sampling everything at the show… 😳
Next, it was time for our CanTech International magazine team to head to Chicago for the IMDPA Show to explore the latest advancements in metal decorating and packaging technology, while our Food and Drink Technology team went to Birmingham to check out the newest innovations in processing and packaging machinery, robotics, and industrial vision systems.
☕ Tea & Coffee Trade Journal editor Vanessa Facenda made it to the 2024 North America Tea Conference where producers discussed the continuing impact of climate change on production (extreme heat in some areas versus excessive rains and flooding in others), and of course, the rising costs of production.
Lastly, we bade farewell to Kathryn Brand, our associate editor, as she embarks on an exciting new journey 💐 We will be announcing Bell’s latest recruit, our new Editorial Assistant, soon so watch this space.
New dates for CanTech the Grand Tour 2022
Due to the continuing travel restrictions and general uncertainty resulting from the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, CanTech The Grand Tour in Warsaw has been moved from 14-16 March to 6-8 June, 2022.
A full refund on bookings subject to terms and conditions is guaranteed if there are any problems with the new dates.
Season’s Greetings
Here’s wishing all of our readers, customers and partners a happy and healthy holiday season, and prosperous New Year.
Asia CanTech to return in 2022
After the unfortunate postponement of our 2021 Asia CanTech event, we are now delighted to announce the return of the conference in 2022, taking place from 24-26 October in Bangkok, Thailand. To register and take advantage of early bird rates, click here.
A little team update
This week we are saying goodbye to Kyra as she pursues her new dog walking business that has taken off in a huge way! We wish her all the best for the future. This means that for any event enquiries from now on, Chris Seldon will be your contact. Please email [email protected].
Regaining our sociality…
We’re gaining some normality back here at Bell and it feels great.
Firstly, thank you to Sarah and Neil who hosted a wonderful outdoor barbecue for the whole Bell team on the 9 September. The weather stayed warm and sunny, and we enjoyed good food, some games and most importantly, each other’s company!
This week saw us all return to the office for two days a week of our choosing. It’s going to take a while getting used to wearing presentable clothes for those days we’re in, but it’s going to be so valuable seeing each other safely face-to-face on a more regular basis.
We’re also getting back into the swing of in-person events; the Dairy and Food & Drink Technology teams recently travelled to Birmingham for the PPMA event; Suzanne is soon off to be a judge at the International Cheese and Dairy Awards in Stafford; and Alex is the lucky Bell team member that gets to travel internationally for the first time in two years, for the 42nd edition of Host Milan at the end of this month. You could say we’re loving being busy!
Celebrating 120 years of Tea & Coffee Trade Journal
Tea & Coffee Trade Journal celebrates a massive anniversary milestone this year, and its special commemorative issue is out now – read it here.
Inside you will find out more about the publication’s origins and will even be able to read the 1901 edition of the Journal in its entirely, following a wonderful feature authored by TCTJ‘s specialty editor Donald N Schoenholt. Enjoy!
Safety first – Asia CanTech 2021 postponed
It is with regret that we have decided to postpone this year’s Asia CanTech conference (due to take place in October 2021).
While some travel restrictions are easing, there is still a great deal of uncertainty, and the Covid-19 situation in Thailand and south east Asia continues to be difficult. Added to this some international corporations are keeping travel restrictions in place for the safety of staff and colleagues. Taking all of these considerations into account, we decided to be safe and postpone the conference until next year.
Read the full statement from conference director Neil McRitchie here.
World Confectionery Conference set for a physical event in September 2022
With such a fine response to the debut World Confectionery Conference that attracted hundreds of online visitors from around the globe, we are pressing full steam ahead in unveiling plans for our physical event in Brussels next year.
The date has been set for 9 September 2022, and will take place at Brussels Marriott Hotel Grand Place, featuring a full conference programme and our accompanying exhibition, celebrating the latest key developments across global confectionery, bakery and snacks markets.
Dates & location announced for CanTech the Grand Tour 2022
We are pleased to announced that our CanTech The Grand Tour 2022 event will take place in Warsaw, Poland from 14-16 March.
Head to www.cantechthegrandtour.com, and read CanTech editor Jill Sayles’ latest blog here for more information. Further details will be announced across both the CanTech International and CanTech the Grand Tour websites.
That’s a wrap – World Confectionery Conference 2021
Congratulations are in order for the Confectionery Production team today, as the inaugural and virtual World Confectionery Conference has been hailed as a great success.
The team meeting this morning was hugely positive, with glowing feedback still coming in from participants.
Read more in CP editor Neill Barston’s blog about the event here.
