Pan-produce industry partnerships, new structure & lower prices
PMA Fresh Connections returns to Melbourne
The largest information, education and networking event to bring together the entire fresh fruit, vegetable and floral value chains in the Asia-Pacific region, PMA Fresh Connections has teamed up with organisations including the Australian Horticultural Exporters' Association, Australian Organic, The Australian Chamber of Fruit and Vegetable Industries, Organic Federation of Australia, and a number of foodservice operators and independent retailers, to offer one jam-packed day of forums, master classes, leadership events and tours.
"The PMA Fresh Connections Conference and Trade Show is designed to connect members of the diverse fresh produce industry – from growers through to retail – to the ideas, information, tools and people they need to grow their business; but we also recognise that different segments of the industry have their own unique needs," said Fresh Select's John Said, Chairman of PMA Australia-New Zealand.
"Through close consultation and collaboration with a wide cross-section of fresh produce companies and organisations, the Special Interest Groups Day will include forums on sustainability, organics, export, independent retail, and foodservice, and a Horticulture Centre of Excellence Master Class. The full- and half-day programs are all designed to address the specific issues, trends and industry developments that are critical to the success of those industry segments" he added.
The Special Interest Groups Day will be held on 14th May and will also include the annual conference tour, which will visit the new Epping Wholesale Markets and specialty retailers, and the inaugural Women's Fresh Perspectives Leadership Brunch. To register, visit www.pmafreshconnections.com.au/register
New-look PMA Fresh Connections means lower prices, greater opportunities for delegates
After extensive consultation with industry, delegates, exhibitors and sponsors, organisers have introduced a new three-day structure for PMA Fresh Connections, for the first time splitting the conference and trade show into separate days. The new structure means that tickets to the PMA Fresh Connections trade show have dropped to only $75, and delegates are able to customise their experience by choosing to attend only those events that are of specific interest to them.
"What's particularly exciting, especially for the production end of the supply chain, are the opportunities created by the full day of trade show" said Mr Said.
"It's a huge day of prime trade show time to meet with buyers, source new suppliers, and most importantly make new business connections" he said. "If you want the chance to meet with buyers from the major or independent retailers, to source new inputs providers, to get up close to cutting edge technologies and innovations, even to check out the competition; you're not going to get every single one of those things all under the one roof at any other trade show in Australia or New Zealand ― and certainly not at that price."
Held on May 13th in partnership with The Australian Chamber of Fruit and Vegetable Industries, exhibition space has been filling rapidly. Confirmed exhibitors include companies such as Clause Pacific, Monsanto, Dobmac Machinery, Perfection Fresh, Plant and Food Research, Orora and Bioconservacion. With trade show day beginning and ending with perennial favourites the Welcome Breakfast and Gala Dinner, and major retailers scheduled to hold meetings within the trade show throughout the day, trade show attendance is expected to be at a record high at over 1000 attendees. To register, visit www.pmafreshconnections.com.au/register
Conference topics to satisfy all interests at PMA Fresh Connections
In partnership with Woolworths and CHEP, Tuesday 12th May will be dedicated to the Conference, building on PMA Fresh Connections' reputation as the industry leader for local and global educational content. Keynote speakers will include Jeff Dunn, CEO of Bolthouse Farms (USA) on Changing the way we market to consumers; Chris Riddell, Futurist & Digital Strategist (AUS) on Winning Tomorrow's Customers with Digital; and Dan'l Mackey Almy, President & CEO of DMA Solutions (USA), on Beyond the sale: how marketing can grow your fresh produce business.
Concurrent sessions will feature a range of topics from technology to research and development, succession planning to quality assurance:
• For those in family businesses, the concurrent session presented by David Smorgon (OAM) in association with pwc on Getting Succession Planning Right will provide usable insights from case studies on succession planning best practice.
• The Profiting from Research and Development session will look at post-harvest technologies, going back to basics, as well as developing new varieties, with speakers including Andrew Granger, Jocelyn Easton, and Jason Johnson of Plant and Food Research.
• Technophiles will be in their element with presentations from Professor Salah Sukkarieh from the University of Sydney on Drones and Robots, and Mike Nagle of Advanced Technology Systems in the US who will look at the application of 3D printing in the fresh produce industry.
To view the full program, please visit www.pmafreshconnections.com.au/conference. To register, please visit www.pmafreshconnections.com.au/register.