We were invited as Media by Hannah Clement of Pulse Communications to attend this new exhibition at the CTICC
It was well attended by food and food ingredients producers
Early Bird is part of Astral Foods and was showcasing their chicken produce with some tasters
Velha has a selection of Italian Mediterranean food items; we buy quite a lot of their passata 5 Drill Ave, Montague Gardens , Cape Town, South Africa, 7441
Velha is a division of Alliance Foods and they had tasting samples on the stand 
Lynne in conversation with Nikolaus Henrich,
Lynne has visited Offenbach on the Rhine and John's former employer is based in the Rhineland,
so we had a good conversation
Buttanut. This was a stand we'd hoped to see We are both dairy intolerant and the lactose free varieties don't seem to help our allergies
It gave us an opportunity to taste their products, which were all very enjoyable
The Macadamia milk is now part of Lynne's Weetbix and fruit breakfast every morning
The nut butters are spectacularly good, just a bit eyewatering in price
Givaudan produces sustainably manufactured flavourings and fragrances
They were represented by Technical lead Adhip Ghosal and Senior account manager Lorian Mumford
who gave us some of their delicious fruit flavoured jellies to try 
Döhler is a German producer of beverage bases, flavoured & unflavoured emulsions, colourants and concentrated flavourings
We ran into Charles Back, owner of Fairview Wine and Cheese in Paarl, so we had to stop at the Fairview Cheese stand A good number of the show's visitors wanted to sample the range of cheeses
We have been fans in the past, but are finding that the camemberts and bries being produced in SA
have become very bland, without the luscious character of French cheeses
We were told that this is the style that SA likes. Sad. We don't do bland
We do regularly buy one of their products, but it is only available in Woolworths and that is the Royden
"It is produced in the traditional French method, a blend of cow's milk with a dash of Fairview's goats’ milk
to give farmhouse flavour and characteristics"
A popular stand with generous samples
Cape Town Gin was on a stand featuring South African wines and spirits It attracted Lynne who loves a good Gin and enjoyed a quick G&T, but no take-away samples, sadly
On the stand, there was a small selection of Cape wines. We had no glasses, so no tastes
Another brand, Aslina; same problem, no glasses
We bumped into two chefs whom we know well,
Craig Cormack of Salt and Goose Roasters Caterers and Allister Esau (@allisteresau)
and had a good chat about the food and restaurant industries, with the risks of price increases and winter coming.... . 
Delicious ice cream on view, and yes we both had a good tasting
A demonstration show was happening at the Chefs Connect stand
We did also venture to the Hotel & Hospitality Expo Africa 2026, which was at the other end of the CTICC,
where all the stands were manned by firms that supply the industry,
showing products like equipment, appliances, linen, soaps and corporate clothing
We saw no representation by hotels or hospitality, only their suppliers
So we had a quick look and then, a little weary after doing our 5000 steps, it was time to go home after an enjoyable day
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