Earlier this year, the VNU Group announced the appointment of Natasha Hall as the new vice president of VIV Worldwide, overseeing a broad portfolio across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. As she steps into this pivotal role, Hall brings fresh perspectives to one of the industry’s most anticipated events. In this Q&A, Dairy Global speaks with Hall about what attendees can look forward to at the 25th edition of VIV Europe, and how global sector shifts are set to shape this year’s show.
The agrifood industry is changing faster than ever. Across all regions, we see businesses navigating geopolitical uncertainty, sustainability demands, changing consumer expectations, digitalisation, and the need for greater efficiency and resilience. What is very clear to me is that the industry is looking for connection, practical solutions, and trusted partnerships even more than before.
That is exactly why this edition of VIV Europe feels so important. The conversations happening onsite are no longer only about products. They are about future-proofing businesses, sharing knowledge, and finding new ways to collaborate internationally.
Under the concept ‘Showroom of the World’, it brings together the entire feed-to-food chain under one roof. Visitors can meet global market leaders, innovative start-ups, technical experts, and producers from around the world in just a few days. In today’s environment, that face-to-face exchange has become incredibly valuable.
“What is very clear to me is that the industry is looking for connection, practical solutions, and trusted partnerships even more than before.”
What makes this industry so fascinating is that every region is moving at a different pace and has very different priorities.
In Europe, sustainability, efficiency, animal welfare, and regulation are major drivers. In Asia, we often see extremely fast growth, scaling of production, and strong investment in technology and biosecurity. Across Africa and the Middle East, food security, new investment opportunities, local production capacity, and knowledge transfer are key focus areas.
Despite these differences, there are also many shared challenges globally, like, for example, labour shortages, disease management, sustainability pressures, feed efficiency, and the need to produce more with fewer resources.
And lastly, each region has its own focus areas around protein species based on consumer behaviour and religious beliefs. Whilst VIV is traditionally known for its solutions in the poultry industry, in Asia, swine and aquatic protein sources are also major parts of the population’s diets, and in India and Africa, there is a great dependency on dairy, and it is our goal to support the animal protein industry as a whole in the years to come.
For VIV, this means our events must remain globally connected while also being locally relevant. Visitors want to see solutions that are applicable to their own realities, but they also want to learn from what is happening elsewhere in the world.
That international exchange of ideas is one of the biggest strengths of VIV Europe. You can have conversations in Utrecht in the Netherlands that genuinely influence business decisions across continents.
Absolutely. I believe the feed-to-food concept is more relevant today than ever before. The industry is becoming increasingly interconnected. Decisions made in feed production impact animal health, processing efficiency, sustainability performance, packaging solutions and ultimately the consumer experience. Companies are no longer operating in isolated segments but are rather looking at the entire value chain much more strategically. That creates huge opportunities for collaboration across sectors that traditionally operate more independently.
At VIV Europe, we are seeing growing interest in areas such as data-driven farming, AI applications, sustainability solutions, alternative feed ingredients, precision livestock farming, and integrated production systems. We also see increasing crossover between technology providers, food companies, feed businesses, and production specialists.
For visitors, this means they are gaining access to the broader ecosystem shaping the future of agrifood production.
Celebrating the 25th edition of VIV Europe is a milestone – it reflects decades of industry trust, international collaboration, and innovation.
At the same time, the launch of VIV Select India shows how strongly we continue to invest in future growth markets. India is one of the most dynamic agrifood markets globally, and we see enormous potential there for knowledge exchange and business development.
Looking ahead, our focus is very much on strengthening regional relevance while maintaining the global VIV network and quality seal. Every market has its own dynamics, challenges, and opportunities, and we want our events to reflect that in a meaningful way.
We are also investing heavily in stronger content programmes, more curated matchmaking opportunities and hosted buyer programmes, innovation-focused platforms, and partnerships that create real value for our communities beyond the exhibition floor.
One of my priorities is ensuring that we continue evolving alongside the industry and provide high quality event platform across markets globally.
Another key focus for me is strengthening the global VIV community across regions. I believe there is still so much opportunity to create even stronger connections between markets, industries, and professionals. I also want to continue enhancing the visitor experience through smarter networking opportunities.
At the end of the day, we are in the people business, forging connections, live and in person. People invest their time to travel to attend VIV because they want to gain something tangible for their business. My goal is to ensure that every visitor and every exhibitor leaves feeling inspired, informed, and connected to the future of the industry.
