Visitors enjoy the taste of a wide range of food showcased at the group food ingredients expo held in Tai'an, Shandong province from April 14 to 16. [Photo/Tai'an Daily]

A total of 7,071 deals were signed at the group food ingredient expoheld in Tai'an, Shandong province from April 14 to 16, with the total turnover amounting to 60.38 billion yuan ($8.78 billion). 

The expo attracted 300 leading companies in the group food ingredient sector, as well as nearly 10,000 catering businesses and food production companies. Attendees were able to purchase products in the expo's 11 exhibition zones, which featured over 50,000 exhibits in areas covering pre-made meals, poultry, and aquatic seafood. 

In the Shandong Good Products Exhibition Zone, various delicacies like Taishan tea, Ningyang jujube, and Dongping Lake salted duck eggs from all over Tai'an were displayed, attracting a large slew of visitors to have a taste. 

"The expo had a large volume of visitors and high-quality customers, so we also launched cost-effective series products and have reached strategic cooperation agreements with many companies. As a supplier of group meal ingredients, we hope to provide high-quality raw materials to help the development of the group meal industry," said Chen Qiaohua, head of the food and beverage business department of the large packaging catering center of Luhua Group.

The expo offered a high-quality platform for exhibitors to share and discuss ideas about the new opportunities and challenges facing the catering industry in the future, as well as to form a whole industrial chain. 

Statistics showed that the turnover within Shandong province reached 40.962 billion yuan, and the turnover outside the province reached 19.42 billion yuan. The turnover of ready-to-eat meals amounted to 10.87 billion yuan.