Sirha, says Marie-Ordile Fondeur, managing director of the show at organiser GL Events, has “a special atmosphere and soul” that simply cannot be found at other trade events. The fact that the show occurs every two years in Lyon, the gastronomic capital of France, adds hugely to that special atmosphere and makes it a real draw to its growing number of visitors.
This year’s Sirha, held 24-28 January, was sprawled over 130,000sqm of Lyon’s vast Eurexpo centre, a 10,000sqm increase on the 2013 event, according to Fondeur. “We had to build a new hall for this year,” she says. “Every four years we have to add a new hall and lots of new parking too.”
The show saw 3,045 exhibitors taking booths at the show, with 486 coming from outside France; a 16% increase since 2013. “We would like to attract more visitors from the Middle East and Asia too,” says Fondeur.
“Sirha is increasing more and more,” she says. We host 19 different culinary competitions, including three international events, such as the prestigious Bocuse d’Or. You can’t find that anywhere else at other shows. That’s what’s unique about Sirha. It’s the essence of the show”.
Denis Daveine FCSI, the incoming chair of FCSI France agrees. “Sirha is truly international now,” he says. “France is gastronomy. It’s the heart of the industry so Lyon has to be the best place to host it.
“The show has been a real success for FCSI France. We have a strong, very visible stand and have made many, many contacts with people here who don’t know much about foodservice consultants. It’s very important for us to be able to tell them who we are and how we can help them with their restaurant projects. It’s a great opportunity for FCSI to be recognised as a worldwide organisation.”
Sirha 2015 saw totally revamped versions of the show areas too, says Fondeur. “We’ve worked really hard on the design of the whole show, rethinking the Food Studio and competition areas. We worked closely with Sirha design director [Emmanuel Chevalier] to ensure that everything is in harmony, so it’s a really beautiful show.”
Giving visibility to innovation at Sirha is a key part of the show, says Fondeur, whose team at GL Events worked with third parties such as Alain Ducasse Education, Loeb Innovation, Food Service Vision and Institut Paul Bocuse in the build-up to the show to ensure that new food products and foodservice equipment would be showcased at the event for the first time.
“Back in 2013 we started looking at new trends and ideas that we could demonstrate here in 2015,” says Fondeur. “We studied markets in other countries that will determine trends in foodservice to give chefs inspiration for the next five years to come.”
The resulting Sirha World Cuisine Summit Trends & Ideas 2015-2019 book, authored by industry expert Frédéric Loeb, identifies a number of food ‘megatrends’ that look set to shape the market including ‘pleasure’, ‘practicality’ and ‘well-being’.
This year, the Sirha TV and conference set was installed at the heart of the exhibition and hosted more than 150 speakers. Among the speakers were Jonathan Doughty, worldwide president of FCSI and expert consultant members of FCSI France including outgoing chair Gilles Castel, and Sylvaine Bouquerel FCSI.<link through to first Sirha story on Bocuse d’Or winners > You can’t find that anywhere else at other shows. That’s what’s unique about Sirha. It’s the essence of the show”.
Denis Daveine FCSI, the incoming chair of FCSI France agrees. “Sirha is truly international now,” he says. “France is gastronomy. It’s the heart of the industry so Lyon has to be the best place to host it.
“The show has been a real success for FCSI France. We have a strong, very visible stand and have made many, many contacts with people here who don’t know much about foodservice consultants. It’s very important for us to be able to tell them who we are and how we can help them with their restaurant projects. It’s a great opportunity for FCSI to be recognised as a worldwide organisation.”
Sirha 2015 saw totally revamped versions of the show areas too, says Fondeur. “We’ve worked really hard on the design of the whole show, rethinking the Food Studio and competition areas. We worked closely with Sirha design director [Emmanuel Chevalier] to ensure that everything is in harmony, so it’s a really beautiful show.”
Giving visibility to innovation at Sirha is a key part of the show, says Fondeur, whose team at GL Events worked with third parties such as Alain Ducasse Education, Loeb Innovation, Food Service Vision and Institut Paul Bocuse in the build-up to the show to ensure that new food products and foodservice equipment would be showcased at the event for the first time.
“Back in 2013 we started looking at new trends and ideas that we could demonstrate here in 2015,” says Fondeur. “We studied markets in other countries that will determine trends in foodservice to give chefs inspiration for the next five years to come.”
The resulting Sirha World Cuisine Summit Trends & Ideas 2015-2019 book, authored by industry expert Frédéric Loeb, identifies a number of food ‘megatrends’ that look set to shape the market including ‘pleasure’, ‘practicality’ and ‘well-being’.
This year, the Sirha TV and conference set was installed at the heart of the exhibition and hosted more than 150 speakers. Among the speakers were Jonathan Doughty, worldwide president of FCSI and expert consultant members of FCSI France including outgoing chair Gilles Castel, and Sylvaine Bouquerel FCSI.
