Salón de Gourmets Fair gets the appetite back

If an alien had landed in Halls 4, 6 and 8 of the Madrid Trade Fair (IFEMA) this week, he would have been stunned by the immense variety and sophistication to which human civilization may come to feed himself. Wine, oil, ham and sausages, cheeses, preserves and spices with a very long tradition and history, or proposals that update and version those products in very different ways, such as jams and blood sausage in tubes, oil flavored with chocolate or caramelized olives. Also, ground-breaking ideas, such as the marine plankton ready to use.

Over 35,000 products are shown in the XXIX edition of the Salón de Gourmets, showcase for the premium deli sector that concludes today in Madrid with a sense of optimism. 1.400 exhibitors expect more than 80,000 visitors, representing an increase of 20% over the previous year in the number of firms exhibiting their products in the fair during four days.

It is estimated that the event will generate a number of direct and indirect business of about 192 million euro, 11% more than in 2014. «Although the gastro industry has been less hit than others by the crisis, in recent editions exhibitors had fear, and this year you notice an improvement; companies have realized they need focus on quality and make an effort to export», Reyes Lopez, associate director of Gourmet Group, organizer of the fair, told The Luxonomist.

From her point of view, the fair shows a clear trend: «an overwhelming improvement in the packaging of Spanish products. Indeed, one wonders with unusual wine labels or oil bottles that seem carved jewelry».

The fair, she says, has achieved greater internationalization, with an increase of 50% in the number of foreign exhibitors (representing 22% of the total). Portugal, with its famous sardines, cod and sweets, among other specialties, is the country of honor this year, but also Italy, France, Canada and Argentina have their own space in the fair.

A happy tour for the palate. Salón de Gourmets is a feast for the senses, which are a bit stunned trying to decide in which stand it is better to stop or to choose between many parallel activities offered by the fair, as showcookings, tastings…

The strength of Spanish products is clear. Navarra displays excellence in their vegetables and duck products, Extremadura praises the quality of its Iberian products and paprika, Galicia impresses with its wide range of canned fish and seafood of the highest quality, Basque Country with its meat and seafood, Cantabria with anchovies and dairy, Castilla y León with cheeses, meats and vegetables and excellent pork, and beef jerky… Madrid, honored region in this edition, presents its new quality seal for food products, M Producto Certificado.

A tour around the fair offers you an exciting whirlwind of flavors and aromas and the feeling of being about to discover something tasty and unfamiliar, since the fair presents around one thousand new products. One example: the curious jams made with beer and varietal wines (garnacha, syrah, tempranillo and albariño) by the Spanish Cucumi brand. Conservas Chanquete presents an expensive proposal for gourmet palates: Cocochas with Angulas from Rio Minho. Devillada surprises with its blood sausage cream inside a plastic tube, that only needs to be heated in the microwave for a minute and is mild and pleasant.

One of the products that most interest rises is marine plankton Veta la Palma, developed in El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz) by the company Fitoplancton Marino SL with famous chef Ángel León, owner of Restaurant A Poniente. This mysterious green powder (lyophilized microalgae), after being emulsified with a little water, concentrates a powerful aroma and marine flavor, reminiscent of anemones and barnacles. This amazing product is at the moment distributed just for catering industry, but we hope it will be available soon for the final consumer, so everyone can play in their kitchen with the powerful taste of the Ocean.