Messe Berlin and Fruchthandel Magazine have revealed the ten candidates for the Fruit Logistica Innovation Award (FLIA) 2014.
The FLIA jury, consisting of experts from production and quality management, wholesale, retail, packaging and services, selected ten products from a large number of entries.
The final shortlisted products will be presented at next year's Fruit Logistica in a special display area between Halls 20 and 21, with the winners chosen by trade visitors – more than 58,000 trade professionals from 130 countries will be able to vote for the during the first two days of the trade fair.
An award ceremony on Friday 7 February will see the leading innovation hailed as the winner of the FLIA 2014.
The ten candidates are:
- Aureli Mario, Italy: 'Vegetable Crumbs' for breaded vegetables
- Azienda Agricola Campobasso Marco, Italy: 'Fette di Sole' – snacks made from dried orange slices
- BrimaPack B.V., Netherlands: 'Extended shelf life packaging for Broccoli'
- Eisberg Group, Switzerland: 'BBQ Grill Mix' – a new convenience product for barbecue enthusiasts
- Home Harvest Salads Ltd, UK: 'Oriental Mixed Living Salad' – freshly harvested at home
- Ifco Systems GmbH, Germany: 'Folding reusable plastic containers for bananas' – designed for the global banana trade, from the field to the supermarket shelf
- Internationale Fruchtimport Gesellschaft Weichert, Germany: 'Uurú, the original banana' – organically-grown bananas from Ecuador with intense, exotic flavour
- Tokita Seed, Japan: 'Fioretto'– long-stem cauliflower with small heads
- Verpackungszentrum Graz, Austria: 'Compostable packaging nets from beechwood cellulose' – sustainable production, eco-friendly composting
- ZTI Mechatronics BV, Netherlands: 'Grape destemming machine' – to separate the fruit from the vine
'Presented for the ninth time in 2014, the Fruit Logistica Innovation Award honours outstanding new products and services that have had a positive impact on the international fresh produce trade,' explained Fruit Logistica project manager Christoph Göring. 'Regarded as the industry's most coveted prize, the Fruit Logistica Innovation Award attracts extensive global media coverage.'
