Interpom | Primeurs 2014, virtually fully booked

Interpom | Primeurs, the leading trade fair for the whole of the potato, vegetable and fruit sector in Europe, will be held on Sunday 23 to Tuesday 25 November 2014 in Kortrijk Xpo (Belgium).

With two months still to go before the opening, the event is already bigger than last time - and virtually fully booked!

This year’s event promises to offer a complete overview of the market for everyone who is eager to keep up with the latest developments and new products in the sector.

Interpom | Primeurs just goes on growing and it is also becoming distinctly more international. To date, 250 exhibitors from 13 different countries have registered to take part and the total stand area is 12 per cent larger than in 2012. Virtually all stands available have been booked.

Interpom | Primeurs 2014 has taken over all 6 exhibition halls at Kortrijk Xpo and guarantees to offer a complete and above all sharply focused range of products and services for all professionals in the potato, vegetable and fruit sector: growers, contractors, processors, packers, buyers and traders of fresh and processed potatoes, fruit and vegetables from all corners of Europe and increasingly, from other continents as well.

The last edition of Interpom | Primeurs clocked up a total of 17,678 visitors (+25.7 per cent on 2010) from 36 countries worldwide. Again, this year, the organizers expect a massive turnout of visitors.

‘Together for sustainable growth’ is the theme of the event a stimulus for strategic sustainability thinking throughout the chain

The organizers of Interpom | Primeurs are aiming to raise awareness of what sustainable growth entails by presenting case studies of companies in the sector. Under the banner of the event’s theme of ‘together for sustainable growth’, exhibitors can present what their company has done with respect to one or more of the 3 pillars of sustainability: ‘People, Planet & Profit’. These companies’ projects will be incorporated in a ‘sustainability route’ on the exhibition floor, underlining the importance of new insights and innovations to ensure sustainable growth in the sector. Walking this route will undoubtedly yield a wealth of inspiration for your own projects.

Inno Potato Award: Spotlight on growers’ own innovations

The third edition of the Inno Potato Award is a competition designed to reward the introduction of innovations in agricultural businesses. For their colleagues in the sector, three Flemish and three Walloon potato growers present the innovations they have developed and applied in their own enterprises.

The names of the winners and their projects will be announced at the end of October on www.innopotato.be. The professional jury has already awarded 50 per cent of the total number of marks to be given, and visitors at Interpom | Primeurs will decide the remaining 50 per cent during the first two days of the event. Prizes will be presented in Hall 6 at Kortrijk Xpo at 12pm on Tuesday 25 November, in the presence of the regional Ministers of Agriculture.

Seminars on promotion campaigns for potatoes & equivalence of quality control systems

The promotion of potatoes in Flanders and Wallonia focuses on fresh potatoes on domestic markets. Promotional campaigns aiming to stimulate potato consumption among consumers in general are set up in conjunction with Vlam, - Flanders' Agricultural Marketing Board, and Apaq - W - The Walloon Agency for the Promotion of Agriculture Quality. Vlam and Apaq - W will be presenting a seminar detailing how these campaigns are set up and the results they have yielded.

The British Potato Council, the British equivalent of Vlam / Apaq - W, will also present its own campaign and the impact it has had.

In addition, the new Belgian campaign for the promotion of processed potatoes will also be unveiled. Belgian potato processors have recently established themselves as the largest exporters of frozen chips in the world: Belgian potato products are reaching more and more customers in all continents.

Real ‘Belgian chips’ can be distinguished from similar products from other producers on the basis of taste, all - round enjoyment and authenticity and this will be the basis of the new promotional campaign: ‘Belgian potato products from the land of the potato chip’. Date and venue: Monday 24 November 2014 from 14 to 15:30 hrs in KortrijkXpoMeetingCenter (entrance via Hall 6).

Seminar on the equivalence of quality control systems for potato, vegetable and fruit growers

An international seminar on how this international cooperation should evolve will be held on Monday 24 November 2014 at 9.30 am in the Kortrijk Meeting Centre adjacent to the exhibition premises.

Date and venue: Monday 24 November 2014 from 9:30 hrs to 10:30 hrs in KortrijkXpoMeetingCenter (entrance via Hall 6).

Dynamic meeting platform for a growth market

With its home base in Kortrijk (Xpo), Interpom | Primeurs is held in the heart of a dynamic and expanding potato, vegetable and fruit market. This is the perfect place to make new contacts and reinforce links with colleagues and suppliers in Belgium and abroad, to exchange ideas and share information in a sector with a rosy future. Note the date in your diary straight away!

Interpom | Primeurs is an initiative of Belgapom, the official trade association of the Belgian potato growers and processors. The practical organisation is in the capable hands of Kortrijk Xpo.

The futures market: an instrument for spreading risks in trading and processing?Potato growers have already been using the futures market for some time but as yet, not many people are using this instrument in the trading and processing sectors. Fedepom, the French association for the potato trade, and Belgapom, the Belgian association for potato traders and processors, are working together to offer their members an afternoon seminar introducing them to how the futures market works and the possibilities it offers for their businesses.

Eurex, which covers the potato trading futures market, and a broker will be here to answer your questions. The presentation will be in English, with simultaneous translation into French.