The Port of Tarragona brings the International Agri-food Congress to a close, consolidating its leadership in the Mediterranean agri-food sector

Success in attendance at the second edition of the Congress with more than 200 delegates

Today the Port of Tarragona brought to a close the International Agri-food Congress, thus consolidating its leadership position in the Mediterranean agri-food sector. More than 200 delegates attended this second edition of the congress organised by the Port of Tarragona and State Ports Authority.

The first panel on the second day dealt with “The Role of Manufacturers’ Associations in Animal Production” and the participants included Jaime Piçarra, executive secretary of IACA; Xavier Solanes, vice-president of ASFAC; José Luis Esteban, president of the Barcelona Llotja, and Joan Marc Papió, Ership delegate in Tarragona, who acted as chairman. The speakers emphasised the importance of the role of manufacturers’ associations in animal production, a role that needs to be proactive and not reactive, in order to defend the interests of the sector. They also discussed the need, in the current internet era, to foster direct contact in order to establish trust, a matter in which the trade associations play fundamental role.

The second panel, “Food Markets”, was led by Jaime Nolan, president and director general of FCStone; the American, Robert Bresnahan, executive director of Trilateral Inc. and an economist; Erik Norland, executive director of CME and an economist; and Javier Massó, marketing director of Brunge Ibérica SAU, as chairman. In this case, the discussion concerned the volatility of the agri-food market scenarios, scenarios that correspond to a pattern of constant price rises and falls, and on the need to make accurate risk calculations in order to maintain a minimum of control.

The third panel, “Consumers” was led by Felipe Medina (ASEDAS); Víctor Yuste, director general of Foro Interalimentario; Alex Döring, secretary general of FEFAC; José Manuel García, director general of De Heus Nutrición Animal SAU; Pedro Cordero, director general of Nanta, and Joaquín Unzué, director of Piensos Unzué. According to the speakers, the profile of the consumer has evolved considerably and their behaviour is very changeable. However, there is a common denominator: the consumer today has access to a great deal of information and they are very rational. It was also noted that the drivers of the sector, as far as the consumer is concerned, are health, innovation, quality and sustainability. It was also commented that, although Spain is one of the leading countries in food safety, this is not transmitted through the media. Therefore it is necessary to use the new forms of communication (social media) to introduce this message to the public.

To end, the Port of Tarragona’s director of Information Systems, David González, gave a brief talk about the blockchain, a type register that allows a permanent record to be kept of data handling transactions.

In the closing ceremony, the president of the Port of Tarragona, Josep Andreu, once again highlighted the Tarragona infrastructure as a leader in the Mediterranean agri-food sector, stating that the International Agri-food Congress has, for another year, been a highly necessary discussion forum for the sector, in which the different agents were able to crystallise the concerns of the sector. After thanking the speakers and delegates for their participation, he invited them to the next edition of the congress in two years.

For his part, the director of the Catalan Regional Government Territorial Services for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, Àngel Xifré, spoke of the importance of the agri-food sector in Catalunya and, in particular, in the Tarragona region, and highlighted the role of the Port of Tarragona in this sector.

The closing address was given by the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport and Housing of the Ministry of Development, Julio Gómez-Pomar, who spoke of the Investment Plan for Port Overland Accessibility 2017-2021 that, with a budget of 1,418 million euros, will allow improvements to port overland accessibility, particularly in terms of the rail connectivity of the Spanish port system.

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