The event demonstrated conclusively that it has become unrivalled as the reference point for people from throughout the region to meet in order to develop their business knowledge and contacts.

What is more, the visitors represented every segment of animal protein production and processing, so that the 2015 edition of the show successfully extended its reach to cover all farm animal species and aquaculture.

Show manager, Ruwan Berculo, said: “VIV Asia 2015 has exceeded our expectations. We wanted it to be a show that was relevant to everyone in Asia and also to the milk, aquaculture, meat and egg businesses as well as its established theme of feed to meat. This was most definitely achieved, and at the same time the show has been bigger again.

'Must-attend' event

He continued: “We thought that the industry would do well to have about the same number of visitors as in 2013, but in fact we welcomed more than 38,000 people during the three days of the fair. To see the attendance rising by more than 15 per cent has been extraordinary.

“The key point in my opinion is that VIV Asia is now definitely established as the essential meeting place for people from throughout Asia who are seriously involved in producing and processing animal proteins. Everyone in the business realises they must attend because they know that their competitors and colleagues will be here. They also recognise that it is the place to come in order to be well informed about techniques and markets as well as about innovations and international suppliers.”

Poultry and eggs

Poultry’s importance in the VIV Asia profile has been underlined again in 2015, with the major growth in Asian attendance originating from countries that have a strong interest in producing chickens and eggs.

For the egg industry, it was further enhanced by the decision of the International Egg Commission to hold its Asian leadership forum in Bangkok immediately before the show. Where the two-day forum had been expected to attract about 35 participants, in fact 110 industry leaders were present – and the intention now is to repeat the IEC event alongside VIV Asia again in 2017.

Special events

Also likely to be repeated is a focus on biogas after this was introduced at VIV Asia 2015 with great success.

The Special Event Aquatic emphasised the potential for aquaculture to continue to grow both regionally and globally in supplying much-needed protein to feed the world’s growing human population.

DairyTech was an added feature in 2015 and it demonstrated that milk production fully deserves a place alongside meat and eggs in the show profile for the future.

Pork production

The biggest change in 2015 compared with past editions of the show related to pork production. Although it has always been represented previously, the pork sector was much more visible this time as its regional appeal gained considerable attention. Almost 40 per cent of visitors involved in farming reported having pig-producing interests.

Mr Berculo said: “I was delighted to see that our hard work in promoting VIV Asia to the pork chain had really paid off.

“We were also satisfied by the pay-off from arranging a Welcome China event for people from China and other Chinese-speaking visitors. Visitor numbers from China were higher at this year’s show by as much as 27 per cent.”

Partner commitment

Mr Berculo also gave credit to the roles played by various partner organisations in helping to arrange special events for each of the animal protein segments.

In pork, this meant the co-operation of Pig Progress from Reed Business Information.

The poultry segment partners were Poultry International from Watt Global Media with the Dutch Poultry Centre and the Netherlands government’s Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Supporting Aquatic Asia were Blue Aqua and Addcon, while the DairyTech feature was backed by Global Dairy Farmers and International Dairy Production.

High ratings

Mr Berculo continued: “From our point of view as the show’s organisers, the most gratifying part of all has been that our exhibitors and visitors liked VIV Asia 2015. During the show we asked people to rate their experience of it on a scale of 1 to 10, with higher meaning better. For the exhibitors the average rating was 8.0, which is a very good result. But the visitors rated this year’s VIV Asia even more highly, they gave it a score of 8.5.

“Their vote is especially appreciated, given the fact that accommodating the increased number of exhibitors on the BITEC showground in Bangkok had been quite challenging for us. The stands for the show were spread over several halls, including a temporary one, and on two levels. I can promise that here will be a much easier lay-out on the completely redeveloped showground by the time VIV Asia returns there in March 2017.”

The Netherlands: official partner country

For VIV Asia 2015, the 'Official Partner Country-initiative' was introduced. The Netherlands was the first in what hopefully becomes an impressive range of partner countries over the coming editions. Two Dutch pavilions, a Dutch Innovation seminar and several networking events resulted in a significant boost of trade relations between Asian and Dutch animal protein professionals.

The Dutch Innovation Seminar was supported by the Dutch Poultry Centre, branch organization with almost 90 member companies representing the Dutch poultry industry. The Major of the City of Rotterdam, Mr Ahmed Aboutaleb, opened the seminar and made a guided tour on the exhibition floor where he visited a number of Dutch exhibitors.

Facts and figures

This 12th edition of VIV Asia had 874 exhibitors compared with 770 at the previous event in 2013. The companies present this year included 178 who were exhibiting for the first time.

Visitor numbers over the three days of the March 2015 show reached 38,425, representing an increase of 15.6 per cent from the 33,229 visiting in 2013. From registration details about visitors’ region of origin, double-digit percentage increases were recorded for the number of people visiting from Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, Africa, North and South America and Western Europe. Foreign visitors from outside the show’s home country of Thailand rose by 18.2 per cent to 25,302.

In total, this year’s show in Bangkok was visited by people from 124 countries.

Thailand itself was among 15 Asian nations sending more visitors to VIV Asia in 2015, with the region’s largest increases coming from Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and China.

VIV Russia 2015, VIV MEA 2016

Next stop this year will be VIV Russia 2015, scheduled for 18 May (the Summit) and 19 to 21 May (the exhibition).

In 2016, VIV MEA will open its doors in Abu Dhabi. This new initiative focuses on servicing poultry professionals in Middle East and Africa with their own international VIV.