BTEXPO Kazakhstan is Central Asia’s largest annual trade fair for food, beverages, hospitality and retail technology. The 2024 edition will be staged on 6-8 November at the Atakent Exhibition Centre in Almaty as a fully in-person event. Organised by Iteca Kazakhstan, the show combines a 15 000 sqm exhibition with a three-day business forum aimed at distributors, supermarket and HoReCa procurement managers, food producers, franchise seekers, equipment importers and public catering inspectors. More than 420 companies from 25 countries have already confirmed stands, including national pavilions from Türkiye, Italy, Korea and the EAEU, while 7 500 trade visitors are expected.

The parallel Forum programme is built around five verticals: sustainable packaging, alternative proteins, smart retail, halal and eco-certification, and supply-chain finance. Each morning begins with plenary keynotes from public officials; the 2024 roster features Vice-Minister of Agriculture Aidarbek Saparov, Atameken National Chamber Chairman Timur Suleimenov, and EBRD agribility lead Anouj Mehta. Afternoon tracks move to case-study panels: “Kazakhstan 2025 food security roadmap”, “Cold-chain modernisation with IoT”, and “Exporting beef and dairy to the GCC”. A dedicated TechPitch stage gives 30 start-ups eight-minute slots to present shelf-life sensors, plant-based dairy and blockchain traceability to venture funds such as Visor Capital and Baring Vostok. For the first time BTEXPO hosts the national final of the WorldSkills Retail competition, where young merchandisers and butchers qualify for the global stage in Lyon.

Side features include a tasting zone for 80 organic, kosher and halal SKUs, a match-making app that pre-schedules 2 000 buyer-supplier meetings, and guided tours to Aport hypermarket’s new dark store. The organisers stress zero-waste goals: exhibitors must use recyclable stands and donate leftover product to the city food bank, a policy endorsed by the UN Global Compact Kazakhstan network. Admission is free after online pre-registration; the working languages are Kazakh, Russian and English with simultaneous interpretation provided in the main hall.