The 12th edition of the International Expo-Conference Meat.Milk, titled "Romania's Meat and Milk Sectors: Success, Prudence, or Disaster," took place on May 29th and 30th.

The event was attended by industry leaders, investors, meat and milk processing companies, farmers, technology and equipment suppliers, IT and software providers, representatives from major retailers, law firms, and more.

Prominent professional associations in the field participated in the conference, including Romalimenta, ARC, April, AMRCR, FCBR, APAR, Holstein.ro, APCPR, and Bovicoop. Representatives from the University of Brașov, including students from the Faculty of Food and Tourism, were also present.

Institutions such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA), the National Consumer Protection Authority (ANPC), the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture (APIA), and the Competition Council sent their representatives to provide the latest information in the respective domains.

Day One

The first day focused on company presentations, including:

• Cris-Tim Family Holding - Platinum Partner: Sustainability of the Romanian Meat Industry in the context of new global challenges; Speaker: Radu TIMIȘ - General Manager
• Testo Romania - Gold Partner: Professional measurement solutions for cost reduction and food safety assurance; Speaker: Horațiu BAȘA - General Manager
• Senior Software Agency - Silver Partner: Complete production traceability with integrated software solutions - Binal Mob case study, the producer of Torockoi brand; Speaker: Lori HAIDUCESCU - Director of Operations
• GXO Logistics: How logistics can provide solutions to meet the challenges in the Food Industry; Speakers: Victor Ghiurea - Business Development Director, Răzvan Grebeșiț - Business Development Manager
• CMC Grup Risk Advisor: Risk management vs. Risk in management!; Speaker: Marius MAIER - General Manager
• Ecoaktiv Agro - Gold Partner: Ecoaktiv Professional - An efficient and natural solution for reducing greenhouse gases, with benefits in production and animal health; Speaker: Alina HARABAGIU - Regional Sales Manager
• Inaq Consulting - Gold Partner: Key changes in the requirements of the new IFS Food Version 8 standard; Speaker: Ionuț NACHE - General Manager
• Frigotehnica SA: Modern refrigeration solutions for the Food Industry; Speaker: Răzvan VOICU - Refrigeration Project Manager
• Linde Gaz: Rapid freezing of Ready to Cook/Ready to Eat foods; Speaker: Richard MOLNAR - Technical Applications Manager
• Carrefour - Retail Partner: Sustainable local partnerships: WIN-WIN-WIN solutions for customers, producers, and retailers; Speaker: Radu GHERMAN - Director of Fresh Product Procurement

In the Movie Meat.Milk section, promotional videos from companies such as Baroncini, Agricola SA, Angst.Ro, Biotrend Plus, Comagrimpex B&B, CSB Systems, Profi Romania, and Debitron Termo were projected.

The afternoon of May 29th featured three intense moments. The first was the Dairy Farmers/Processors debate, titled "How efficient is the Milk Law for consumers, processors, and farmers?" with speakers including Paul ANGHEL - General Director of ANPC, Dorin COJOCARU - President of APRIL, Petru BORDEAN - President of FCBR, and Ionuț LUPU - Executive Director of Holstein.ro.

The second debate of the day focused on the Meat Farmers/Processors sector, under the theme "How can we turn the crisis into an opportunity?" Participants included Dana TĂNASE - Executive Director of ARC, Sorin MINEA - President of Romalimenta, Ioan LADOȘI - President of APCPR, and Adrian BALABAN - President of AMVPCS.

The last debate of the day took place in the Forum Retail section. Under the title "Promotion and Price Reduction Strategies on the Shelf," George BĂDESCU - Executive Director of AMRCR, Ștefan PĂDURE - President of APAR, and Valter ENACHE - Professor at the University of Brașov, analyzed the latest market trends.

The evening of May 29th was marked by the Meat.Milk Awards Gala. The following excellence awards were presented:

• SENIOR SOFTWARE SRL, for excellence in business and exceptional quality of company process analysis programs and food product traceability monitoring.
• ARTESANA SRL, for the high standard of quality in milk processing, dairy product quality, and alignment with sustainability policies.
• INAQ CONSULTING SRL, for excellence in consulting and the implementation of the most advanced process and quality standards.
• GXO LOGISTICS Inc., for excellence in providing and ensuring supply chain management and optimization solutions tailored to the needs of each beneficiary.

Day Two

The second day of the event, May 30th, was dedicated to participants' meetings with representatives from authorities. After delivering presentations to inform the audience about the latest actions in the relevant fields, the authorities engaged in dialogue and answered questions.

Speakers included Aurel Simion - Secretary of State at MADR, Ioan Oleleu - Vice President of ANSVSA, Paul Kemen - Deputy Director General, and Laslo Gyerko - Specialized Advisor on Food Industry Issues from the Competition Council.

Subsequently, the authority representatives participated in the Official Tour of the booths organized in the Expo section. They visited the stands of exhibitors such as Scale Expert, Comagrimpex B&B, Hanna Instruments, Testo, Aqua D&P, Facility Distrib, Cris-Tim, Mirdatod, Elopak, Fotometric Instruments, Mall Agro, Trepko, Ecoaktiv Agro, Indal, Five Continents, and Artesana.

The hosts at each booth provided the attending officials with information about the products and services offered by the represented companies, as well as their activities.

The last item on the conference agenda was the Round Table discussion on the topic "Is a revision of legislation in the Food Industry necessary?" Speakers included Iasmina BLIDAR - Executive Director of Bovicoop, Dorin COJOCARU - President of APRIL, Aurel SIMION - Secretary of State at MADR, and Ioan OLELEU - Vice President of ANSVSA.

Another highly successful edition

The 12th edition of the International Expo-Conference once again demonstrated the professionalism of the organizing agency, infoGROUP. Participants praised the event, with many stating that the 2023 edition was either the best of all twelve or certainly the best in the last five years. This was attributed to the overall theme, the large number of presentations and communications, and the exceptional quality of discussions.

It is worth mentioning the partnership between infoGROUP, the Meat.Milk magazine, and Agro TV, which broadcasted the event live in its entirety. Additionally, the TV show "Meat.Milk," airing on Friday evenings at 7 PM, will present extensive coverage of the main moments of the International Expo-Conference Meat.Milk 2023.

The event was a resounding success and drew a record number of participants, approaching the attendance level of 2019 before the pandemic.