Interest ramped up for annual CPMA Convention & Trade Show
Interest ramped up for annual CPMA Convention & Trade Show
The Canadian Produce Marketing Association's 81st Annual Convention & Trade Show will be the association's "biggest Vancouver show in history," said Ron Lemaire, the organization's executive vice president and director of marketing.
The convention takes place at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre from March 22-25.
"We're seeing a lot of new exhibitors," Mr. Lemaire said, including representation from 17 or 18 countries, including South Africa, Belgium and Asia-Pacific countries.
Considering that "$3 out of every $4 spent on produce at retail in Canada is spent on imported product," the international flavor of the proceedings is fitting, Mr. Lemaire said.
Ottawa-based CPMA works closely with key stakeholders to review the event every year and work on how to better develop the program and logistics, Mr. Lemaire said. One example is the new program that allows exhibitors to access the business sessions free of charge on Thursday and Friday, thus providing greater value to the exhibitor attending the event.
Feedback from the convention has told the CPMA that companies attending the show and business program develop and expand existing business relationships and find new opportunities, Mr. Lemaire said. "The 3,500 individuals that come have a great opportunity," Mr. Lemaire said, adding that there is cohesion between business and social activities.
This year's retail tour will involve four stores: MarketPlace IGA, T&T Supermarket Inc., Urban Fare and Whole Foods Market. Participants will have the opportunity to see all four between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, March 25, returning in time for the awards brunch. To be eligible to attend, participants must be fully registered delegates, an exhibitor or purchasers of a Saturday partial registration.
The convention will have a decidedly international focus. This year's theme is "Globally focused, regionally driven."
China has gained much attention "as both a market to export to as well as to export from," Mr. Lemaire said. Consequently, on Thursday, March 23, there will be a session offered about China featuring talks by Ercel Baker and Kenny Zhang. Mr. Baker will talk about the changes in China from a social and business-related focus covering the past 10 years and projections for the future. He will also talk about business relationships, the role of government, doing due diligence before entering into business relationships, protection of intellectual property and other challenges businesses face and how to avoid them and how to address them when they occur.
Mr. Baker's federal public service dates back to 1959. Beginning with his tenure with the Public Service Commission, he worked for many years with relevant ministries and commissions of the People's Republic of China, advising and assisting in their reform of civil service. In 1994, he was decorated by China with the Friendship Award & Medal for foreign experts. Today, in addition to managing his own company, he is adjunct professor at the China National School of Administration in Beijing and serves as director of two Canadian companies: Once Corp. of Ottawa, ON, and China World Trade Corp. of Calgary, BC.
Mr. Zhang, a senior research analyst at Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, a Vancouver, BC-based think tank on Canada-Asia relations, will give a presentation on demographics, consumption patterns, production (for export and import needs), food-safety standards, competitiveness (efficiencies, labor, skills) and scale of economy.
Mr. Zhang's main research interests focus on Canada-China trade and investment relations, labor migration in China and economics of immigration in the Netherlands and Canada. Prior to joining the foundation, Mr. Zhang worked as associate research professor at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and was a senior researcher at the Centre of Excellence on Immigration Studies at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC. Since May 2005, he has been a member of Vancouver Mayor's Working Group on Immigration.
On Friday, March 24, there will be a business session on radio frequency identification, reduced space symbology (the next generation of barcoding), and traceability in which experts will provide an update on the work at the Canadian RFID Centre including recent findings from research at the centre, efforts toward a global traceability standard and the latest in RSS. Wayne McKnight, vice president of global food procurement for Wal-Mart, will moderate the session.
On Saturday, March 25, there will be a presentation on unethical business practices. According to CPMA, the fresh fruit and vegetable industry in Canada is facing a serious and growing challenge from unethical business practices by some dealers. These practices are placing a heavy cost on the industry in general and on unwary individuals in the industry in particular. Canada's reciprocity with the United States in dispute resolution for the industry is already being questioned because of it.
The Fresh Produce Alliance, comprised of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, the Canadian Horticultural Council and the Dispute Resolution Corp., commissioned studies this past year to examine these unethical business practices, the costs they are imposing on the industry, why they are occurring and what could be done about them.
The presentation by the authors of the study has been arranged to inform attendees about what actions need to be taken and how they can protect themselves from these unethical practices.
To demonstrate the severity of the problem, authors of the study point to facts that show the number of dealer bankruptcies in the fruit and vegetable industry is four times higher than the average for other parts of the agricultural industry; the number of dealer bankruptcies in the fruit and vegetable industry is 10 times higher than for the eggs, grains and oilseeds industries; and there has been nearly $60 million at stake in bankruptcies in this industry since 2000.
According to the study, the fresh produce industry is the most attractive target in the agri-food sector for unethical business practices. Past efforts by the Canadian fresh produce industry to find solutions have not been successful.
The convention takes place at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre from March 22-25.
"We're seeing a lot of new exhibitors," Mr. Lemaire said, including representation from 17 or 18 countries, including South Africa, Belgium and Asia-Pacific countries.
Considering that "$3 out of every $4 spent on produce at retail in Canada is spent on imported product," the international flavor of the proceedings is fitting, Mr. Lemaire said.
Ottawa-based CPMA works closely with key stakeholders to review the event every year and work on how to better develop the program and logistics, Mr. Lemaire said. One example is the new program that allows exhibitors to access the business sessions free of charge on Thursday and Friday, thus providing greater value to the exhibitor attending the event.
Feedback from the convention has told the CPMA that companies attending the show and business program develop and expand existing business relationships and find new opportunities, Mr. Lemaire said. "The 3,500 individuals that come have a great opportunity," Mr. Lemaire said, adding that there is cohesion between business and social activities.
This year's retail tour will involve four stores: MarketPlace IGA, T&T Supermarket Inc., Urban Fare and Whole Foods Market. Participants will have the opportunity to see all four between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, March 25, returning in time for the awards brunch. To be eligible to attend, participants must be fully registered delegates, an exhibitor or purchasers of a Saturday partial registration.
The convention will have a decidedly international focus. This year's theme is "Globally focused, regionally driven."
China has gained much attention "as both a market to export to as well as to export from," Mr. Lemaire said. Consequently, on Thursday, March 23, there will be a session offered about China featuring talks by Ercel Baker and Kenny Zhang. Mr. Baker will talk about the changes in China from a social and business-related focus covering the past 10 years and projections for the future. He will also talk about business relationships, the role of government, doing due diligence before entering into business relationships, protection of intellectual property and other challenges businesses face and how to avoid them and how to address them when they occur.
Mr. Baker's federal public service dates back to 1959. Beginning with his tenure with the Public Service Commission, he worked for many years with relevant ministries and commissions of the People's Republic of China, advising and assisting in their reform of civil service. In 1994, he was decorated by China with the Friendship Award & Medal for foreign experts. Today, in addition to managing his own company, he is adjunct professor at the China National School of Administration in Beijing and serves as director of two Canadian companies: Once Corp. of Ottawa, ON, and China World Trade Corp. of Calgary, BC.
Mr. Zhang, a senior research analyst at Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, a Vancouver, BC-based think tank on Canada-Asia relations, will give a presentation on demographics, consumption patterns, production (for export and import needs), food-safety standards, competitiveness (efficiencies, labor, skills) and scale of economy.
Mr. Zhang's main research interests focus on Canada-China trade and investment relations, labor migration in China and economics of immigration in the Netherlands and Canada. Prior to joining the foundation, Mr. Zhang worked as associate research professor at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and was a senior researcher at the Centre of Excellence on Immigration Studies at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC. Since May 2005, he has been a member of Vancouver Mayor's Working Group on Immigration.
On Friday, March 24, there will be a business session on radio frequency identification, reduced space symbology (the next generation of barcoding), and traceability in which experts will provide an update on the work at the Canadian RFID Centre including recent findings from research at the centre, efforts toward a global traceability standard and the latest in RSS. Wayne McKnight, vice president of global food procurement for Wal-Mart, will moderate the session.
On Saturday, March 25, there will be a presentation on unethical business practices. According to CPMA, the fresh fruit and vegetable industry in Canada is facing a serious and growing challenge from unethical business practices by some dealers. These practices are placing a heavy cost on the industry in general and on unwary individuals in the industry in particular. Canada's reciprocity with the United States in dispute resolution for the industry is already being questioned because of it.
The Fresh Produce Alliance, comprised of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, the Canadian Horticultural Council and the Dispute Resolution Corp., commissioned studies this past year to examine these unethical business practices, the costs they are imposing on the industry, why they are occurring and what could be done about them.
The presentation by the authors of the study has been arranged to inform attendees about what actions need to be taken and how they can protect themselves from these unethical practices.
To demonstrate the severity of the problem, authors of the study point to facts that show the number of dealer bankruptcies in the fruit and vegetable industry is four times higher than the average for other parts of the agricultural industry; the number of dealer bankruptcies in the fruit and vegetable industry is 10 times higher than for the eggs, grains and oilseeds industries; and there has been nearly $60 million at stake in bankruptcies in this industry since 2000.
According to the study, the fresh produce industry is the most attractive target in the agri-food sector for unethical business practices. Past efforts by the Canadian fresh produce industry to find solutions have not been successful.
