The seventh edition of Canada's leading international food and beverage exhibition, SIAL Canada, "The North American Food Marketplace" is scheduled to open its doors April 21-23, 2010.

Formerly SIAL Montreal, "this new name confirms the Canadian positioning of the trade show and enhances its leadership in creating business opportunities for both agrifood industry buyers and suppliers," affirms Xavier Poncin, SIAL Canada's managing director. "The trade show has become a reference and a yearly meeting point for the agrifood sector."

The show's last edition attracted 530 exhibitors and 12,500 visitors from 10 Canadian provinces and 60 countries to the Palais des congrès de Montréal exhibition center in the heart of Montreal. Twelve exhibiting countries were new to the show from 2008: Brazil, Colombia, Cyprus, Egypt, Guatemala, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Mongolia, Portugal, Taiwan and Tunisia. Canadian provinces were also actively present with exhibitors from Quebec, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Alberta and New Brunswick.

"The show's success is due to its unique positioning as an international exhibition on Canadian soil and its integration as part of the SIAL worldwide events program in Paris, Shanghai, Buenos Aires, Abu Dhabi and Montreal," says Poncin.

The aisles of SIAL Canada 2010 will brim with novelties developed internationally, nationally and on the local level. Professionals from the retail, foodservice and nutrition sectors will discover valuable information on up-and-coming consumer habits, innovative product developments, and healthy food and beverage choices. The 2010 edition promises to be more innovative than ever before with top conferences, workshops and live demonstrations focusing on consumer insight and trends, all designed to keep food industry professionals on top of the fast moving industry. A new educational conference program specifically geared toward food buyers will address current industry topics with an emphasis on health and nutrition.

For the first time at SIAL Canada 2010, the "Cuisine du SIAL Canada" event will debut during the three-day exhibition. Inspired from the successful program in SIAL Paris, Cuisine du SIAL Canada will become a focal point for the culinary arts, enabling renowned chefs to demonstrate their skills and inventiveness to visitors.

SIAL Canada 2010 will host an official USA Pavilion endorsed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, featuring over 35 U.S. companies on 3,600 square feet of exhibit space. To date, U.S. trade organizations that have indicated that they will be exhibiting in SIAL Canada include the Illinois Department of Agriculture, the Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA), Food Export USA - Northeast, the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association (IDDBA) and the Association of Food Industries (AFI).

The United States and Canada have the largest bilateral trading relationship in the world. U.S.-Canadian bilateral agricultural trade reached $34.1 billion in 2008, which amounts to 7,000 truckloads of agricultural products crossing the border each day.

The exhibit profile of SIAL Canada 2010 includes alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages; cured meats; canned goods; grocery; delicatessen items; produce; ingredients and additives; organic products; seafood; diet products, dietary supplements; children's food items; dairy products and eggs; sweets, cookies and bakery products; frozen foods; foodservice products; meat and offal; and fresh poultry and game.

SIAL only admits food industry professionals and is exclusively devoted to food and beverage products, serving the needs of all market segments, including large-scale distribution, trading companies, import-export, wholesale distribution, specialty retail, foodservice as well as food manufacturing.

SET Canada, the national equipment show dedicated to the food retail and foodservice sectors, will again be collocated with SIAL Canada.

SIAL Canada 2010 is supported by the governments of Canada and Quebec through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Ministère de l'Agriculture des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec, and endorsed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The show is produced by Paris-based Comexposium, the No. 1 trade show organizer in France. SIAL Canada is one of the five SIAL exhibitions organized in the world, the largest being held in Paris since 1964. For more information on the SIAL trade exhibitions, contact Rebecca Long at Imex Management, U.S. representative at 704-365-0041, e-mail RebeccaL@ImexManagement.com, or go to www.sialcanada.com.