Countdown to the 2024 Interpoma: Spotlight on Digitalization

Interpoma’s 13^th edition is ready to go. The go-to international event for the apple industry will run between November 21 and 23 at Fiera Bolzano, boasting an increasingly interactive format. 

Interpoma covers 25,000 m² hosting 490 exhibitors from 21 countries. It focuses on industry trends and delves into specific thematic workshops and events chaired by leading experts, researchers, and key stakeholders from all over the world. Case in point: The Interpoma Congress, a two-day international symposium dedicated to apples which will take stock of digital and genetic R&I. 

The Highlights of the Interpoma’s 13^th Edition  

The leitmotif of the 2024 Interpoma will be the future. Digitalization and “The Orchard of the Future” will take visitors on a journey to discover new genetic and digital technologies used to optimize apple-growing and make it sustainable. An overarching theme spanning the two days of the Congress, the three days of the Tours, the prestigious Interpoma Award, the new “Orchard of the Future” area, the third IPOMA magazine edition as well as the meetings, workshops and other events taking place at Fiera Bolzano. 

The 2024 Interpoma Congress will take place on November 21 and 22. It represents the main training event in the world for industry experts organized with the support of the Laimburg Research Center. The first day will be dedicated to “Genetic evolution: New breeding technologies”, encompassing topics such as global regulations on genome editing on plants, IP Rights and awareness and acceptance of the new breeding technologies by consumers. The second day – “Digital revolution: Orchards of the future” – will pivot to theoretical aspects and focus on sensors and microchips as well as AI solutions to manage real-time big data for plants, plan on-site actions and manage the apple harvest. 

The “Orchard of the Future” in the FieraMesse H1 Eventspace will focus on hands-on activities. The area will recreate an apple orchard row over 800 m2 where trade show visitors will be able to test the technologies of 11 companies. The tech and apps enable, among other things, to take pictures to maximize orchard management or obtain the size and color classification of the apples in the crate; real-time disease monitoring; software to simplify the apple orchard’s day-to-day business; systems to streamline precision agriculture; robotic systems to pick apples; technologies for real-time monitoring of the plants’ health and devices to increase water savings. 

The orchard of the future will also star in IPOMA, the Interpoma’s official magazine. Its third edition will spotlight the use of digital technologies across the entire apple production chain. 

The 2024 Interpoma Award will also focus on the same theme. The Award is organized by Fiera Bolzano and the Free University of Bolzano’s Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, and sponsored by the SOI, the Italian Fruit and Vegetable Growing Society. Sustainable apple-growing and new technologies will be the key aspects assessed by the jury to select the winners of the coveted prize. 

This edition will also mark the debut of the Visitors’ Choice Award. Visitors will be able to vote for the technologies showcased at the “Orchard of the Future” in H1 on the trade show’s first day. The winners of both awards will be revealed on Friday, November 22 at the end of the second day of the Interpoma Congress during the official prizegiving ceremony. 

During Interpoma, the city center of Bolzano will come to life during the Apple Festival, an event exclusively dedicated to the Alto Adige IGP apple, organized by the local Tourism Association and the Consorzio Mela Alto Adige with the support of Bolzano Town Hall. The beautiful historical city center will feature countless exhibition and sales stalls, tasting sessions, info booths, and apple-based culinary offers as well as a varied satellite program with music and a play area for children. 

Interpoma’s Opening Night will take place at 6 p.m. the night before the trade show starts. Philippe Binard, Secretary General of the WAPA (World Apple and Pear Association) and the main representatives of the largest apple-producing countries will share a first update on apple production data released during August at the Prognosfruit.  

On November 21, all the sector’s stakeholders can take part in the Interpoma Business Match promoted by the Bolzano Chamber of Commerce as part of the ENN Enterprise Europe Network. The aim is to select and meet partners (companies, buyers, retailers and wholesalers, suppliers, experts) in the apple industry from all over the world. 

Tickets for the trade show, the Congress, and Tours can be purchased on the website.