Northeast Food Festival
Meghalaya CM Conrad CM in the North East Food Innovation Exhibition, 2019 which began in Shillong on Wednesday. Image credit - Northeast Now

The first edition of North East Food Innovation Exhibition, 2019 began in Shillong on Wednesday with Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma aiming to make it the biggest food festival in the South East Asian region.

Organised at Polo Ground Shillong, the food festival is one of the biggest food shows in the Northeast that focuses on creating a global platform to ‘Inspire Food Business’ for this part of the country.

The Meghalaya government and Salon International de’Agroalimentaire (SIAL) Group organized the food show and it was inaugurated by Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma in the presence of agriculture minister Banteidor Lyngdoh and other officials.

The three-day food show focuses on creating a global market for agri-food products of Meghalaya and other northeastern states.

It also aims to provide a platform for the Northeast agro and food processing industry to tap national and global markets and to invite intellectual, technological and financial investments into the state and the region in order to facilitate and induce growth of the local food processing industry.

The food festival also aims to give the industry opportunities to elevate their products and services to global standards through collaborations with national and global processing and packaging units and industry experts.

Besides introducing Northeast buyers, entrepreneurs and markets to innovative food products, latest technologies and global best practices, the exhibition also provides platform to highlight the unique cuisines and ingredients of the Northeast region.

The highlights on the first day of the exhibition included conferences where resource persons deliberated on topics, ‘Issues of Food Processing in North East’, ‘Preservation and Bunch cutting of Banana’ among others.

Speaking during the inaugural session, the CM said, the Northeast has a great potential and he hoped that the food festival would provide the right organisation, platform and network to farmers, entrepreneurs and all stakeholders in the food industry.

“North East has a great potential and farmers and entrepreneurs are doing so well but there is a missing link somewhere and that is why it was important to have such a food festival in Northeast on a common platform,” he said.

The CM added that the three-day festival would bring together farmers, technology providers, entrepreneurs, buyers, chefs, hotels and all stakeholders in food industry in a single massive platform.

“The objective of the food festival is to give exposure, connection and opportunities to the farmers and entrepreneurs of the North East,” he informed.

He also said that the government intended to take the food festival forward every year making it an annual event so that it will not only be beneficial to the Northeast but the entire South East Asian region.

The CM also launched the Meg Tea Factory, Upper Shillong, the website of the Directorate of Food Processing and the Meghalaya Plastic Free Challenge Bags on the occasion.

The Meghalaya CM also shared a picture clicked with the team from Arunachal Pradesh at the food show.