[Press Release] More 2nd SHAFFE Online Congress Speakers Confirmed

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With the confirmation of Esteban Valenzuela, the Chilean agricultural minister; Fernando Mattos Costa, the Uruguayan minister of livestock, agriculture and fisheries; David Littleproud, minister for agriculture and Northern Australia; Milton von Hesse, former Peruvian minister of agriculture; and Phil Houlding, director of international policy at New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries as speakers at the Southern Hemisphere Fresh Fruit Trade Congress on March 30, 2022, Southern Hemisphere fresh produce has gained significant recognition at the government level in a continued period of cost hikes and supply chain disruptions.

In their keynote speeches, all five government representatives will honor the fresh produce industry as a key pillar of food security and a sustainable future as well as a strategic element for their future growth strategies. With these contributions, Southern Hemisphere fresh produce industries have been proving that their valuable contributions to public health and global nutrition are increasingly moving to the center of public debate. This comes in a timely manner as Southern Hemisphere exporters are preparing for a challenging season ahead, which includes navigating through a continued period of uncertainty continuously shaped by COVID-19 in the megamarket of China, cost hikes and ongoing supply chain disruptions in Northern Hemisphere markets.

“The Southern Hemisphere Fresh Fruit Trade Congress is built to become our platform to exchange with our colleagues in the Southern Hemisphere as well as our trading partners in the Northern Hemisphere markets in the upcoming season,” says Charif Christian Carvajal, current president of the Southern Hemisphere Association of Fresh Fruit Exporters (SHAFFE) and representative of the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association (ASOEX).

Therefore, this year’s congress will analyze current market access developments in China and India together with sector experts Kurt Huang, deputy secretary general of the Fruit Section of the China Chamber of Commerce of Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-products, and Sumit Saran, director of SS Associates and a leading expert on the Indian import and retail sector. Additional perspective on the sector will be shared by exporters of leading commodities to the Chinese and Indian markets, including apples (Ben McLeod, Mr Apple, New Zealand), table grapes (Jeff Scott, Australian Table Grape Association), cherries (Mario Edwards, Agrofruta, Chile), oranges (Jason Bosch, Origin Direct Asia, South Africa) and blueberries (David Bustamante, Grupo Cerro Prieto, Peru).

The congress will further share the voices of the CEOs of Agricola Famosa, a leading exporter from Brazil, the Argentine Chamber of Integrated Fruit Growers (Argentina), the Consorcio de Productores de Fruta (Peru) and Urud’or (Uruguay) on the impact of current cost hikes accelerated by the geopolitical situation — and seek solutions together with Ron Lemaire, president of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, Anton Kruger, CEO of the Fresh Produce Exporters’ Forum (South Africa), Ronald Bown, president of ASOEX, and Terry Meikle, CEO of New Zealand Apple and Pears.

More information about the congress and the registration link are available here. Registration is free, and simultaneous translation in Spanish and Chinese will be provided. The language of the congress will be English.

For more information, please get in touch with the SHAFFE secretariat at secretariat@shaffe.net.

Image: SHAFFE