Preview: AsiaFruit Congress Celebrates 20 Years on Sep 4 in Hong Kong

The following media release content was provided by an outside party and does not necessarily reflect Produce Report’s point of view:

Hong Kong/Berlin, 9 August 2018 – ASIAFRUIT CONGRESS, Asia’s premier fresh produce conference is the curtain raiser to the ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA trade show, taking place on 4 September at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong.

(Click here to learn more about the 2018 ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA on September 5-7)

What’s on the programme?

Well over 13,000 top-level buyers from than 70 different countries are expected to attend ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA.

Visitors can get a valuable head-start by attending ASIAFRUIT CONGRESS.

Leading figures from the fresh produce business and the wider business world provide expert insights into the key market trends and opportunities across Asia. Attracting more than 400 high-level industry professionals from 40 different countries, ASIAFRUIT CONGRESS offers first-rate networking opportunities.

On the show-floor at ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA on 5-7 September, visitors can take part in two walk-in hall forums – ASIAFRUIT BUSINESS FORUM at Hall Forum 1, and COOL LOGISTICS ASIA and SMART HORTICULTURE ASIA at Hall Forum 2.

ASIAFRUIT CONGRESS at 20 

ASIAFRUIT CONGRESS celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, organiser Asiafruit Magazine kicks off the conference with a look back at how the business in Asia has changed over the past two decades, and at how it is changing now.

Asiafruit Magazine will be joined in the opening session – ASIAFRUIT CONGRESS: two decades of change – by an expert panel including Noel Shield, chief executive of powerhouse distributor Joy Wing Mau Asia Holdings; Patrick Vizzone, international head of food, beverage and agribusiness at ANZ Bank in Hong Kong; and Bill Young, senior export account manager at leading US grower-packer-shipper Stemilt.

Asia’s food retail market is moving fast, and the second session – Supplying Asia’s food retail market of the future – will explore how these trends are set to the reshape the supply chain moving forward. Shirley Zhu, who leads grocery analyst IGD’s research team in Asia, will map out the changing retail landscape. Andy Zhang, GM of the fruit import business for Win-Chain, the supply chain management arm for Alibaba-backed online fresh food e-tailer Yiguo, will discuss its mission to transform the fresh produce business. Bringing a suppliers’ perspective to the panel discussion will be Hernan Garces of Forever Fresh Asia (a joint venture between Chilean cherry exporter San Francisco Lo Garces and Peruvian table grape exporter Verfrut) and Linda Mills, chief market performance officer for Zespri.

The final session – ASIAFRUIT CONGRESS at 20: Asia gets ready for its future – homes in on some of the emerging products and markets to watch in Asia through quick-fire Q&As, before closing out with an expert perspective on the keys to future business success from Mette Knudsen, chief executive of consultancy Knudsen&Co.

A series of afternoon workshops at ASIAFRUIT CONGRESS will go into more detail on specific subjects. The first concurrent pair of workshops focuses on the dynamic Korean market, and on more effective marketing to Asia’s vast traditional food retail trade. The second pair turns the spotlight on Asia’s next boom in citrus, and on how to capitalise on Asia’s convenience craze. 

Go to www.asiafruitcongress.com to view the full programme. Delegates to ASIAFRUIT CONGRESS also receive a three-day pass to ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA, including access to the Hall Forums.

Hall Forums: marketing, logistics and hi-tech

 Information opportunities continue on the show-floor at ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA, where visitors can take part in two concurrent Hall Forums.

 ASIAFRUIT BUSINESS FORUM – Hall Forum 1 – offers practical ideas and solutions for better fresh produce marketing and business management. Day One focuses on Production & Trade, with sessions on breakthroughs in breeding and global banana market trends. Day Two focuses on Packaging, and Day Three on Marketing.

 Hall Forum 2 turns the spotlight on the worlds of cold chain logistics and hi-tech horticulture. Each morning, COOL LOGISTICS ASIA offers a series of practical walk-in workshops on cold chain management. The wide-ranging programme looks at changing perishable trade patterns on Day One, maximising cold chain investments on Day Two, and changing priorities in distribution, processing and transport packaging on Day Three.

Each afternoon, the focus at Hall Forum 2 switches to technology with SMART HORTICULTURE ASIA, a forum looking at the latest disruptive technology and digitalisation of the supply chain. Visitors can listen to speakers from leading companies at the crossroads of technology and horticulture around the world. The first afternoon focuses on blockchain, the second on robotics and the third on the digital supply chain.

In addition to the Hall Forums, the new Media Studio ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA features on the show-floor this year. The Media Studio hosts quick-fire interviews with key industry figures on a range of exciting developments and innovations.

In short, ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA offers visitors unprecedented opportunities to collect the best insights, fresh inspiration and ideas, and top business leads to grow their business in Asia.

Purchase your tickets for ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA and ASIAFRUIT CONGRESS online at the ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA ticket shop:

http://www.asiafruitlogistica.com/Visitors/Tickets/

The brand family 

ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA, the leading continental trade show for Asia’s fresh produce business, takes place on 5-7 September 2018 at AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong.

FRUIT LOGISTICA, the leading global trade fair for the fresh produce business, takes place on 6-8 February 2019 at Berlin ExpoCenter City in Germany.

Following its highly successful launch last May, CHINA FRUIT LOGISTICA, the leading national trade show for China’s fresh produce business, returns to Shanghai on 29-31 May 2019.

Images: ASIAFRUIT CONGRESS