Paris-Nord Villepinte will play host to this year’s Europain & Intersuc exhibition, which welcomes confectionery and bakery professionals from around the world.

The show covers eight sectors: retail, traditional bakery, industrial bakery, patisserie, confectionery and chocolate, in-store catering, ice cream and La Rue des Ecoles. Show organiser Exposium anticipates that visitor numbers will rise to 80,000 from around 126 countries. Over 600 exhibitors, nearly 200 of them from outside France, will display their wares.

Apart from the exhibits themselves, the triennial event will include a range of special events to reflect the development of the baking profession. The highlight of these, The Bakery World Cup, takes place over three days and sees nine teams of three people, representing nine different countries, taking up the challenge to win the accolade. Teams are judged on their level of organisation, their time and space management, their teamwork and the level of skill and expertise demonstrated by each participant.

The Innovations Area allows bakers and confectioners to demonstrate new ideas to the market. A panel of judges from the industry looks at these and assesses them on innovative quality, originality, technical performance that may lead to better productivity or safety and a respect for the principles of sustainable development.

For confectioners, the Mondial des Arts Sucrés (International Competition of Confectionery Art) brings together 12 teams of mixed double confectionery specialists from around the world in a practical contest over 20 hours, based on a theme chosen by each team. Items to be made on-site include decorative sugarwork, fresh petits fours and individual tartlets.

Other competitions include: The Intersuc Blue Ribbons awards, for excellence in confectionery, chocolate, biscuit-making, patisserie and presentation and the International Master of Iced Desserts championship, for teams of two, comprising one ice sculpture, one bombe glacée and one plated dessert.

Europain will also hold two conferences this year. The first will focus on the ’Experiences and Opportunities for the bakery trade in Asia, Europe and Russia’. The second will feature ’Bread and Viennoiserie: strengths in the globalisation of the food industry’. n

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=== WHERE: ===

Parc des Expositions, Paris-Nord Villepinte, France

WHEN: 29 March to 2 April

Key figures

Exhibitors 2005: 598, 37% from outside France

Visitors 2005: 78,537, 40% from outside France

Exhibitors 2008: Over 600, nearly 200 from outside France

Expected visitors 2008: 80,000

Visitor countries 2008: 126