MACFRUT 2014 - Conferences covering all sectors of the supply chain

Almost 30 conferences are scheduled, not including the bilateral meetings between companies and foreign delegations. Once again, the 2014 edition of Macfrut will feature many educational initiatives dedicated to research and innovation. Further information on all these events and the speakers involved, which we will now summarise briefly, can be found on the website www.macfrut.com. A preview conference will be held on Tuesday 23 September, in the Sala Verde, entitled: “Asparagus, a Forward-Looking Produce”, which will begin at 9am and involve speakers both in the morning and in the afternoon (from 2pm onwards). On the same day, in the Sala Europa from 3pm onwards, the conference “Pear Production and Sale: Critical Aspects, Prospects and Opportunities” will take place, followed by the round table “Pears Sale in Light of the New International Scenarios”. Work will be in progress from Wednesday 24 September (in the Sala Verde): from 10am onwards, special attention will be given to the theme of innovation and traceability for sustainable, high-quality horticulture, followed by a round table on traceability within the supply chain as an essential tool for high-quality production. At 9.30am, in the Sala Agricoltura, universities will be the key players while the themes addressed will involve the Cesena Technical Hub - Ciri Agroalimentare for fruit and vegetable growing. The official inauguration of the trade fair is scheduled for 10am. In the Sala Delegazioni, at 11am, a workshop will be held on the relations between Italy and Brazil, focusing on exchanging technologies and discussion within the vegetable supply chain. In the Sala Gialla, at 11.30am, the “Fruit in schools” programme will be monitored. The afternoon will also feature many other initiatives. At 3pm, in the Sala Europa, Coldiretti Nazionale will promote a conference entitled “Which strategies for “Made in Italy” fruit and vegetables?” In the Sala Agricoltura (at 3.30pm), instead, there will be a debate on Apps and the Internet, focusing in particular on the App of the Cuneo PGI red apple and its territory. At 3pm, in the Sala Gialla, a highly topical theme will be addressed: new commercial opportunities for Italian technologies in Russia. This will not be the only day full of events, since many more are scheduled for Thursday 25 September. In the Sala Europa, from 9.45 onwards, one of the leading conferences of Macfrut 2014 will be held: the third conference of the World Food Research and Innovation Forum, towards Expo 2015 Milano, based on the theme “Technologies and Models for Correct Nutrition”. At 9.30am, in the Sala Verde, the Frutticoltura magazine (Edagricole-New Business Media), together with the CRA (Research Unit for Fruit Farming) and the University of Bologna, will organise a major conference on the prospects of Italian fruit farming within the European and international context, chaired by journalist Giorgio Setti. Speakers will include Carlo Fideghelli, Silviero Sansavini and Walther Faedi. Moreover, some of the world’s experts on production and marketing in northern and southern Italy will take part by illustrating their own proposals to overcome the economic crisis. In the Sala Agricoltura, at 10am, the AREFLH – Assembly of the European Fruit and Vegetable Producing Regions will take place. Disposable and reusable packaging will be highlighted at a conference in the Sala Gialla, from 11am onwards. The afternoon will begin with the workshop “From Fourth-range to Fresh Convenience Food: a Quality Upgrade for Promoting Fresh Produce”, from 3pm onwards in the Sala Europa. At 2.30pm, in the Sala Verde, a talk show is scheduled on biodiversity, which will involve comparing experiences ranging from production to distribution. At the same time, in the Sala Delegazioni, a round table will be hosted on the theme of “Tunisia: a Strategic Location for Companies Operating in the Mediterranean Area”. In the Sala Gialla, at 2pm, technology will be the protagonist of a conference on the miniaturisation of processing technologies in support of rural development. Even though in certain sectors the last day of a trade fair starts to wind up, this is definitely not the case for Macfrut. Friday 26 September will begin with the Agrinsieme conference, in the Sala Europa at 9.30am, on the topic of “Beyond borders. The Italian Fruit and Vegetable Industry Across the World”. At 9am, in the Sala Verde, discussions will take place on network contracts and novelties regarding property and renewable energies. In the Sala Agricoltura, at 10am, special attention will be given to the cooperation with Brazil and studying opportunities for the agro-industrial sector, whereas the Sala Delegazioni, at 9.30am, will host a conference aimed at examining kiwi bacteriosis, a topic that will also be discussed in the Sala Europa from 2.30pm onwards. At 2.30pm, in the Sala Verde, strawberries will be the main topic with an update on the latest varieties that have now become of great interest.   BOX ON TECHNICAL GUIDED TOURSSmall fruits and the pomegranate: two technical guided tours during the Macfrut event. In order to remain true to its supply chain vocation, Macfrut will offer all visitors the opportunity to take part in two technical guided tours during the exhibition days: in this way, the concept of a “widespread trade fair”, which is typical and distinctive of the event held in Cesena, will be further developed, thanks to its geographical location in one of the leading distribution areas on an international scale for fruit and vegetables. The first tour will be dedicated to small fruits, including raspberries, blackberries, redcurrants and everbearing strawberries. Today, these products are receiving growing interest from European consumers in spite of the stagnation affecting fruit and vegetable consumption. We will start by touring some of the production companies of the Cesena area, and then we will examine the product processing and packaging phases of at a cutting-edge plant. The second tour, instead, will be dedicated to the pomegranate, a relatively new crop for continental Europe, which is attracting the attention of an increasing number of producers and processing companies, also on a national scale, due to the significant recent development of this product for consumption, both fresh and in various processed forms. In this case, we will begin the tour at a plant nursery and, examining several production processes, we will then focus on the aspects of research with regard to genetics and micro-propagation. Here is the detailed programme:On Thursday 25 September, we will meet at 9.30am at the main entrance of the Fiera di Cesena. We will pay a visit to the Evangelisti company, which grows small fruits in the Cesena area: picking systems, sales channels and market prices. We will then tour the everbearing strawberry plant of a company that is a partner of Apofruit: presentation of the supply chain, suitable cultivars and cultivation technique. Finally, we will visit the processing plant of fresh products of Apofruit Italia. Return is scheduled for 1pm. On Friday 26 September, we will meet at 9am in the parking lot facing the main entrance of the trade fair for a tour dedicated to the Pomegranate. We will tour the plants of Vitroplant Italia Srl Società Agricola, partner of the Orogel agri-food group, a company that works in the plant nursery field, starting with “in vitro” micro-propagated material. We will then carry on to a farm in Meldola (FC), which features three-leaf pomegranate trees, where information material will be distributed (agronomic data and commercial features). Finally, we will tour the Experimental Farm “M. Marani” of Ravenna, which is testing three different two-leaf genotypes of pomegranate tree and is carrying out fertilisation tests.