Welcome to the Expo!
This week, our inaugural, free to attend, Dairy Industries Expo begins in Harrogate, UK. It will be on Wednesday and Thursday this week, 4-5 October, and promises to be a collection of exciting equipment and services, dairy making discussions and all manners of processing patter for the attendees. I am very much looking forward to seeing you all in person at the Harrogate Convention Centre. Entrance 4 is on Ripon Road. Can’t wait!
I have spent a lot of time this last week attending exhibitions and conferences, both in-person and online. PPMA was held in Birmingham (26-28 September), with several of our exhibitors also there with their fabulous stands. See photo. It was busy with attendees from all over, and I suspect ours will be similarly busy.
Online, the IFCN held its annual Supporters Conference on 27 October, which was also held in-person in Chester, UK (25-28 September). During the sessions, the audience was warned about the long-term prospects of cheese making in the UK.
“Currently, UK cheese makers would generally rather sell abroad than in the UK. Time and investment to develop these export markets is already invested by some players. Once these markets have been created, they will start to take priority. However, retailers who have understanding and empathy, and who are prepared to work with their supplier, will find they will go the extra mile for them,” said Erik Elgersma, of Strategic Analysis Services, one of the authors of the Kite Consulting report on the matter. Our November issue will provide a feature covering this online conference, on the concerns consumers such as Generation Z have.
We will also be covering our own seminars, being held at the Dairy Industries Expo. These will range from cheese making issues, to getting one’s human-machine interfaces right. Not to mention flooring, sampling, cooling, freeze drying, packaging and turnkey systems. However, there is no substitute for seeing things in person, so I encourage everyone who can to attend. See you there!
- Suzanne Christiansen, editor, Dairy Industries International.
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Twitter: @dairyindustries or LinkedIn: Dairy Industries International magazine
