Premiere at Koelnmesse: the international press conference for Anuga FoodTec 2024 was carried out for the first time by two avatars in two different Asian languages, Japanese and Mandarin. The event was transmitted live to Japan and China in order to reach a global audience and promote an exchange between various markets.

In order to ease communication between the journalists and the participants from various countries, digital avatars of Oliver Frese, COO of Koelnmesse, and Carola K. Herbst, vice managing director of the DLG Food centre were used. Both avatars started with a brief address and information about the coming Anuga FoodTec, the relevance of the market, the main theme of "Responsibility" and the trends of the industry. Both films and presentations were shown. This form of address has several positive effects. Matthias Schlüter, Director of Anuga FoodTec: "The new format is innovative and solution-oriented, as is the trade fair itself. That was the reason why we dared this experiment with our most important target countries of China and Japan. An AI-supported press conference can in future lead to a smooth and productive exchange, especially there where English becomes an obstacle."

Thanks to a detailed briefing on the part of the Anuga FoodTec team in advance, the AI-powered avatar solution makes it possible to professionally and correctly answer questions immediately after the conference. "At the first press conference of this kind there were still a few technical difficulties, but we were able to react quickly and ultimately provide your answers to the journalists directly in their language via our avatars. That was very exciting. However, the personal exchange that is so important to us all is of course lacking with such a tool."

Realisation took place in cooperation with the Cologne digital agency make/c, an innovation partner of Koelnmesse of many years. The basis for this is the product "24/7 Berater" from make/c. This is an interactive and multilingual AVATAR solution that enables a continuous and accessible exchange. The live transmission of the press conference lines up with the digital transformation of Koelnmesse and emphasises the commitment of the company to finding innovative solutions for the challenges of global communication.

Anuga FoodTec is the leading international supplier fair for the global food and beverage industry. Organised by Koelnmesse, the trade fair takes place from 19 to 22 March 2024 in Cologne and places the emphasis on the key theme of Responsibility. The professional and industry sponsor is the DLG, the German Agricultural Society.

Koelnmesse – industry trade fairs for the food technology sector: Koelnmesse is an international leader in organising trade fairs in the field of food and beverage processing. Anuga FoodTec and ProSweets Cologne are established, world-leading trade fairs, hosted in Cologne/Germany. In addition to the events at its Cologne headquarters, Koelnmesse also stages further food technology trade fairs with different sector-specific areas of focus and content in key markets across the world, including India, Italy and Colombia. These global activities enable Koelnmesse to offer its customers bespoke events and leading regional trade fairs in a variety of markets, thus creating the foundation for sustainable international business. Koelnmesse is also ideally positioned in the field of food and beverages with its leading international trade fairs Anuga and ISM and its global network of satellite events.