The trade fair duo expoSE and expoDirekt, which took place in Karlsruhe on the 22nd and 23rd of November, this year again had great success. The 454 exhibitors from 14 nations showed some 7,000 visitors their innovations in the fields of machinery, seeds and young plants, packaging and crop protection, as well as sales opportunities, insurance and direct marketing.
The atmosphere amongst exhibitors and visitors was very good during all of this. "Our trade fair duo is no longer just about asparagus and strawberries. It has become an international information and investment platform where producers, marketers and other innovators from across Europe meet to share and develop new approaches and products," said Simon Schumacher, CEO of the Association of South German Asparagus and Strawberry Growers and organizer of the exhibition. The majority of the exhibitors came from Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland and Italy.
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Important themes at the trade fair duo were the new Fertilizer Ordinance and its implementation, innovations for optimization in cultivation and cost reduction, digital systems for the entire production chain as well as creative ideas for direct agricultural marketing.
Winner of the ‘Best of 2017’ Innovation Awards
On November 22nd, as part of the opening of the fair, the Association of Southern German asparagus and strawberry growers gave out the ‘Best of 2017’ awards for market-relevant innovations. Out of 32 submissions, three expoSE innovations and one expoDirekt novelty were able to impress the jury of specialists.
The selective asparagus robot from Dutch manufacturer Cerescon can harvest in parallel over three rows. Proximity sensors detect the asparagus stalk underground and pass the coordinates to a robot that harvests the asparagus without the machine having to stop. The 3-row version of the machine can harvest up to 50 hectares during the season and will replace 60 to 75 seasonal workers.
The team from Cerescon in front of their recent asparagus harvester
The Polish company SoFruPak was lauded for its packaging solution SoFruMiniPak Premium 2. For products such as berries, this firm offers convenient packaging for capacity sizes of 125, 250 and 500 grams, with a separately supplied plastic lid, which can be put on by hand or automatically after filling.
The team from Polish company SofruPak: owner Adam Sikorski and a co-worker
For more information: www.expo-se.de