Visit to UN Agencies in Rome (May 2010)

Appetite for Engineering (April 2010)

Source Africa (February 2010)

UK AD & Biogas 2010 - 5-9 July 2010

The IATC recently hosted a delegation from Brazil on a tour of the UK focussed on the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas industry.

The delegation of Brazilian industrialists consisted of big ethanol producers to local level government representatives seeking to green their processes.

Brazil’s economy is expanding fast, as their land and water reserves enable them to feed wealthier Chinese and organically conscious Europeans. They are running ever larger industrial processes which generate waste. Some of our visitors run large ethanol plants in Goias, in which 70% of the sugar cane biomass is simply recycled to the fields. Others run the sewage treatment for São Paulo, the industrial heartland and for Fortaleza, historically a desert but now a centre for wind and solar power. Many are qualified industrial chemists, well able to assess the technologists presented to them during their tour of the East of England in collaboration with InCrops and the Cambridge Network. The group met with local companies and were welcomed on tours at the University of Cambridge, TTP and BiogenGreenfinch.

During their visit, the group also attended UK AD and Biogas 2010 at the NEC, Birmingham, proudly hosted by the ADBA, this is the first trade show in the UK focussing solely on AD and Biogas. With over 100 exhibitors, free seminars, AD masterclasses and workshops plus the high profile two day conference ‘The Future of AD’. IATC held a ‘Meet the Buyer’ event during the show, where UK companies held one-to-one meetings with members of the delegation with a view to joint ventures and future business collaboration.

Chengdu Food Safety delegation – 28th June 2010 - London

The IATC, in collaboration with the British Consulate in Chongqing, recently hosted a Chinese delegation of officials from Chengdu, in the Sichuan province.

After a stay in Germany, the delegation spent 2 days visiting London and Edinburgh, to learn about Food Safety issues and the way they are handled and prevented in the UK.

The Sichuan province is a big agricultural area and has already developed a large processed food industry. In the development of this industry, matching with international standards and developing export, food safety has become a key issue. The municipality of Chengdu wants to help its industry and promote international collaboration.

Whilst in London the delegation visited the Food Standards Agency. The presentations and discussions covered imported foods, how to track and audit food & feed, and incidents, in particular food recall and issuing alerts.

They then visited Leatherhead Food Research Association to focus on the technologies and services available in monitoring, testing and research in Food Safety. This visit was very useful for them to find out more about solutions and ways to improve their current challenges.

This was followed by a tour of a Tesco store in Leatherhead. This was the opportunity to get a practical overview of the hygiene and traceability rules in the UK Food Safety processes. They finally visited a restaurant in London to get an overview of how these rules apply to the catering sector.

The delegation was very appreciative of this visit and it may lead to a business oriented mission in the next few months.

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Campden BRI Day 2010

Campden Day held on 11 June, saw a new format this year designed to enhance networking opportunties for delegates and guests and the retirement of Lord Plumb as Campden BRI president as he handed over to Lord Krebs.

The Campden Day lecture was given by Ross Warburton, who took the theme 'Food in the Future' and gave a thought provoking insight into the challenges the food industry might be facing in 2030.

In the afternoon the IATC held clinics, where guests couold meet individual members of the team to discuss their international potential.

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CIFST and delegation visit the UK (including Campden Day) from 07 – 11 June 2010.

The Chinese Institute for Food Science and Technology (CIFST) visited the UK from 7th to 11th June 2010 and brought with them a Chinese delegation consisting of members of various research institutes and companies.

During this visit they attended Campden Day (10th June 2010) and returned the following day for a tour of CampdenBRI which included a detailed programme focussing on food safety & testing technologies available.  This tour and the presentations delivered were greatly enjoyed by the delegation.

On the evening of Campden Day (10th June 2010) the IATC organised a dinner which was held at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester.  This was to introduce to the delegation one of the most prestigious places in the UK for education in the agricultural sector. 

The dinner provided a great opportunity to discuss the current food safety issues and the way in which both countries could collaborate and consider possible solutions. All the attendees agreed that both China and the UK have tremendous skills in this area and that more academic and research exchanges would be profitable to both countries.

Further collaboration is planned in the coming months between the CIFST and the IATC.

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Visit to the UN Agencies in Rome - 24–26 May 2010

The IATC recently organised a visit to UN agencies in Rome, involving the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP)

The IATC took a group of 17 companies to the networking event.   Delegates were able to meet with key personnel from the UN agencies procurement teams on a one to one basis.  In addition there was the opportunity to network with each other which proved useful as most organisations had related interests.

The day was rounded off with a reception at the British Ambassador to the UN’s residence at Villa Wolkonsky in Rome.

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Appetite for Engineering 2010 - 29 April 2010

This years event delivered quality and knowledge transfer, promoting automation in the food and drink sector and valuable information on what the sector should be doing as it recovers from a turbulent economic situation using automation and engineering for best advantage.

As IATC delegates from Portugal and Bulgaria networked with members of the food industry, our contacts from the EU Office were able to advise on funding the opportunties available for UK companies.

The day was rounded off by the Food Processing Awards Gala Dinner, where in addition to this being a unique networking opportunity, guests also enjoyed an evening of entertainment.

The following morning saw IATC's International Networking Breakfast for those who wanted to develop their international potential. 

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Source Africa - Kenya and South Africa - February 2010 

IATC recently collaborated with Sainsbury’s in delivering two major 2 day conferences in Cape Town, South Africa and Nairobi, Kenya.  The purpose of these conferences was for Sainsbury’s’ to meet with suppliers and provide a platform for open dialogue about the challenges for the future.  For IATC, the benefit was to listen to the dialogue and identify some of the key issues that needed to be addressed in assisting small scale producers.  The conferences also provided a unique opportunity for networking and for meeting a large number of producers and supplier groups at each event. 

Over 250 delegates attended the two 2 day conferences, including producers, processors, exporters, importers, NGO’s, funding organisations, academic and research institutions.

The IATC took a group of 10 UK companies to the conferences; they were able to hear firsthand the challenges faced by African suppliers and producers as well as be involved in workshop sessions where suppliers outlined their issues with market access, standards and legislation required to supply a major UK retailer. The UK companies assisted in showcasing the expertise and technology available in the UK in the agri-technology sector.

The group also visited a number of organisations around the conference, visiting Cape Town Market to get an idea of the quality and range of products grown in South Africa. They also visited the University of Nairobi and Homegrown in Kenya, giving the group an idea of the scale of operation is Kenya and the Corporate Social Responsibility being undertaken by these larger producers in countries such as Kenya.   

The conferences were a long time in the planning, but it has brought IATC closer to one of the major retailers, and helped to get a better understanding of the issues and concerns on both the retailer and producer side for the food supply chain in the future.  There is no doubt that what may be seen as a purely commercial activity has far deeper rooted social and economic consequences if the trading relationship is not right for the future and if, as a result of natural resource mismanagement, the impact of climate change and other issues, food supplies and production are affected going forward.   

The UK has the skills and expertise to offer as part of a long term programme of support for Africa to strengthen the economic ties and ensure that food supplies are sustainable for the future and will not take food out of the mouths of the domestic population

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