Potato Europe 2023 attracts increasingly international crowd

Potato Europe 2023, recently held in Tournai, Belgium, became more international than we saw in the past years. Visitors from all around the world visited the event to see the latest European potato technologies. The event got many participants from India, Australia, the Middle East, and the Americas, making the event a worldwide success.
 

The event showcasing potato processing machinery has shed light on the remarkable advancements in the potato industry. The exhibition showed the latest technological marvels in potato processing, potato varieties, packaging materials, new potato varieties, and new IT technologies. It was an excellent opportunity to meet around 220 local and international exhibitors. This year, the event was organized by Fedagrim, the Belgian Federation of Agricultural Equipment Constructors, Importers and Dealers.

Most exhibitors are from Machinery, seed potato, phyto-fertilisations, processing and packaging installation. This year, we saw a significant number of exhibitors from the Potato bin or box sector, and they got an excellent response after the show, which indicates the increase in demand in this category.

The international character of the show was already visible during the kick-off meeting in the Salon de la Reine of the Townhall of Tournai on September 5, where next to speakers from Belgium, speakers from Israel and the United States were on the program.

Christophe Vermeulen, CEO of Belgapom, provided an analysis of the Belgian Potato Landscape. Willem ter Heerdt, Head of Food & Agri ING Belgium, gave an overview of the Challenges of Financing the Potato Value Chain.

Simcha Shore, CEO of AgroScout, from Israel, impressed the audience with his new drone technology and gave a presentation on Impacting potato production via the robotic and artificial intelligence revolution.

Blair Richardson, President & CEO of Potatoes USA, spoke on Changing the Conversation About Potatoes.

Inter Agra has showcased their new technology of potato boxes during the show, and it is getting wide acceptance across the globe. It was a lovely exhibition for seed companies to bring their new technologies to a broader audience. The live harvesting show that happened during Potato Europe gave a platform to showcase the new harvesters for GRIMME and Dewulf.

Companies also got the opportunity to launch their product during the show, such as The Potato Optical Grader I-CropVision by DOWNS and TOMRA showcased their new-generation, AI-equipped TOMRA 3A Sorter.
 As Potato Europe 2023 is a great success for everyone, the whole potato world is looking forward to Potato Europe 2024, organised by ARVALIS (French agricultural research institute) in Villers-Saint-Christophe, France, on Sept 6 - 7, 2024.