Asiafruit Congress speakers announced

EExpert speakers from multiple categories and markets will highlight the diverse and dynamic opportunities for the global fresh produce industry in Asia at this year’s Asiafruit Congress.

Asiafruit Congress will go live on September 28-29, 2021 to showcase Asia’s huge market opportunity to the world and to kick off the countdown to the return of Asia Fruit Logistica to Hong Kong on September 7-9, 2022. .

Hosted live from Fruitnet’s offices in Melbourne and London for 48 hours, Asiafruit Congress offers live and on-demand content to make it easy for every fresh produce company to participate in their own time zone.

Leading figures from the fresh produce industry from around the world are lined up to speak at the event.

The market evolves with the Covid

During the opening session, “The challenge of change: Covid-19 and the future of the fresh produce sector in Asia”, Jan Doldersum, chain and retail manager at Rijk Zwaan, and founder of Frutacloud George liu lead a panel of experts to discuss the impact of the pandemic and trends that are expected to last.

The changing food retail landscape in Asia is also featured in a featured session. Winstone Chee, director of Altitude Fresh, shares his first-hand perspective on the main changes in China after Covid. Chee’s broad speech covers digital enhancements, growth in lower-tier cities, reinventing traditional formats, and increasing channel diversity. Most importantly, he explains what all of this means for fresh produce suppliers and how they can respond to the ever-changing channels.

Stone fruits, bananas and more

After two global headline sessions each day, Asiafruit Congress offers more region-specific content for audiences in Asia-Pacific / Americas and EMEA / Americas respectively.

An Asia-Pacific show from Melbourne features a session on varietal innovation in the stone fruit category. Sun World International Vice President of Licensing Garth Swinburn examines the latest trends in breeding. Asoex Marketing Director Charif Christian Carvajal He then describes the future of Chilean cherries in Asia and explains the exciting growth that the Latin American export powerhouse is experiencing for other stone fruit categories such as sugar plums. Francisco Herrera, Export Sales Director of MSC Chile, also discusses the logistics of shipping Chilean stone fruits to Asia and the impact of the global pandemic for the upcoming cherry season.

Bananas are big business in Asia, and a session broadcast from London hears from industry heavyweights on the latest changes in supply and consumption. Mohammed Abbas, Senior Vice President of Del Monte Fresh Produce for Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, describes megatrends in the region. Good farmer Owen Zhang and Managing Director of INI Farms Pankaj Khandelwal then analyze the dynamics of the banana markets in China and India respectively.

Other flagship sessions of the Asiafruit Congress focus on “prioritizing sustainability” and “the big consumer opportunity”. The regional sessions highlight the emergence of Vietnam as a high-end market, digital marketing, market access solutions and tropical fruit trade in Asia, among other topics.

Asiafruit Business Forum offers a second track at Asiafruit Congress, with a range of expert presentations offering hands-on lessons on the latest advancements in technology, retail and marketing.

In addition to live broadcasts from Melbourne and London, content from the Asiafruit Congress is available on demand after the event on the easy to use online platform.

Register for the Asiafruit Congress for free on the asiafruitcongress.com website and visit the website for more speaker updates and program information.