'Foot & mouth' tramples Expo Europe

摘要

Who says that foot and mouth disease is limited only to cattle and sheep? Organizers of Natural Products Expo Europe found out the hard way that the disease can also ravage trade shows, especially ones centered around food products. Foot and mouth disease, combined with the increasingly iii global economy, sent a chill through the second annual Natural Products Expo Europe Conference and Exhibition held June 12-14 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Anyone visiting the show from the U.S. for added perspectives on the state of the natural and functional foods industries in Europe would have been more than a little disappointed; there just wasn't enough there to make an intelligent evaluation of anything. As recently as early March, show organizers boasted of having more than 475 exhibitors for the expo, a number which would have represented a gain from the show's debut last year. Unfortunately, the cancellations began rolling in, especially from food manufacturers that couldn't travel and transport product samples due to foot and mouth disease. The final booth count was said to be 275, a number which also proved to be somewhat optimistic after looking at the floor plan provided at the show.