The Belgian city of Antwerp will once again host the International Strawberry Congress this September, with organisers Hoogstraten promising a “blend of commerce and science”
The fifth International Strawberry Congress will take place in Antwerp on 17-20 September, organised by Belgian cooperative Hoogstraten. The conference offers a unique combination of commercial strategy and scientific research, according to the organisers. “With this congress, we aim to create a platform for networking and information exchange based on research, growing and commercialisation of strawberries for the fresh market,” Hoogstraten stated.
The last edition of the International Strawberry Congress was held in September 2022, once again in the heart of Antwerp, attracting more than 300 participants from 32 countries.
This year, the programme includes “a varied mix of speakers talking about scientific and trade-related subjects”, according to Jan Engelen, marketing manager at Coöperatie Hoogstraten.
“We have, like the last four times, consciously chosen a mix of commerce and science,” he explained. “Both parties can still learn a lot from each other. Commercial people are often a little closer to their daily problems in practice. Problems they come into contact with are often much easier to solve than expected, but often not handed over to the scientific side. The aim is to arrange these relationships and to look for answers. The general focus of the congress is digitalisation.”
The entire congress focuses exclusively on strawberries, dealing with all aspects of the supply chain. The programme comprises two days of talks, presentations and panel discussions, as well as a day of excursions.
The event is followed the day after by the International Mechanisation and Demonstration Strawberry Fair, organised by the Research Centre Hoogstraten, which takes place in the Flanders Meeting & Convention Centre Antwerp.
Topics for the conference include the evolution of the global strawberry market, marketing, sustainability and processing, as well as innovation and trends. On the research side of the programme, the event will cover areas such as breeding and phenotyping, strawberry physiology, integrated pest and disease management, robotics and automation, vertical farming, soil health and growing media, quality and nutrition, postharvest biology and technology, sustainable packaging, big data and AI.
Coöperatie Hoogstraten thanked various companies and organisations for their support in helping to put the congress together, including Smurfit Westrock, Mechatronix, HerkuPlast, VLAM, Vissers and Demargro.
“We want the fifth edition to once again be a platform for networking and information-sharing,” the organisers said, “with consumer demands as a central theme of the congress.”
