With still seven months to go, the VIV Russia 2009 exhibition is well on track. At this stage, already 115 international and national companies confirmed participation and 29 companies reserved options for the Feed-to-Meat trade show in Moscow, scheduled from May 26-28, 2009 in the Crocus Exhibition Center. The positive outlook of the Russian livestock market is reflected in the sales of the exhibition floor space. The Russian meat market for poultry, pork and beef remains on the upward move.

Consumer demand in Russia tends to the use of fresh meat products and market specialists report that strong business opportunities are in meat processing, logistics, storage and refrigeration. "The production of healthy and safe food is key," says VIV Russia Project Manager, Wendy Voermans.

"Russia needs to answer the quickly increasing consumer demand for high quality meat products. This is supported by the Russian government's new program for 2008-2012 called the State Program for Development and Regulation of Food and Agricultural Markets, which encourages the improvement of meat production and processing in terms of quality and quantity. This offers many profitable opportunities, which are backed by our recently held investment survey," she said.

$964 Million Exhibition Spin-Off

Three months after the Moscow Edition of VIV Europe in May 2008, VNU Exhibitions requested the independent market research consultant MarketResponse to execute an investment survey amongst trade show visiting companies about the business results of their visit.

The results are impressive: no less than $964 million was invested as a direct exhibition spin-off within the time span May 30 - September 1st, 2008. Divided into livestock sectors investments amounts to: $540 million in poultry, $183 million in pigs, $222 million in cattle & calves and $19 million in fish.

Of the 5,556 visitors, 62% claimed to have investment intentions at the time of visiting the exhibition, 66% of which realized their plans; 42% responded that their visit lead to speeding up investment plans. In total, 48% of the visitors said that new investment plans were made due to their visit. Of the 67% of companies that were contacted by exhibitors within 3 months after the exhibition, one-fifth had placed orders.

"Remarkable is that 34% of the visitors placed orders with a company which they did not know before or only knew by name," says Wendy Voermans. "This underlines that the exhibition plays a major role in establishing new business contacts." According to Ms Voermans, the results of the investment survey proves that VIV Russia is the business platform for the decision makers of the Russian livestock industry.

Meat Point

One of the focus areas of VIV Russia 2009 is meat processing, for which sector the trade show organizers arrange a special match-making program. They will co-operate with Russian branch associations to perform targeted visitor promotion campaigns. At the exhibition, a dedicated 'Meat Point' will be installed to arrange one-on-one meetings for supply and demand in meat processing.

Country Pavilions

I.C.E. (Instituto nazionale per il Commercio Estero) from Italy organizes a country presentation at VIV Russia 2009, as is the French branch organization Ubifrance. IFWexpo Heidelberg GmbH will take care of the organisation of the national German Pavilion with official support of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology of Germany as well as the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry AUMA.

VIV Russia 2009 will take place on 26-28 May 2009 in the Crocus Exhibition Center in Moscow.

For further information about the event, click here.