Interpoma 2018 heralds the first year of the Technology Award

The best innovations in technology and equipment for apple-growing and post-harvest processing can compete for a “prize package” worth 5,000 euros

Technology will be the true protagonist at Interpoma 2018, the international apple-growing trade show scheduled to take place in Bolzano from November 15–17, 2018. For the very first time, trade show organizer Fiera Bolzano, in partnership with the Science and Technology Faculty of the Free University of Bolzano and Italian horticultural science society SOI, will introduce the Interpoma Technology Award.

“The award,” explains Thomas Mur, Director of Fiera Bolzano, “aims at highlighting the technologies and equipment exhibited at the show that are the most innovative and have the greatest impact on apple-growing and crop protection techniques and the post-harvest phase. With the technical and scientific support of our partners in this initiative, we aim at rewarding the technological innovation that will improve farm profitability, apple quality, worker safety and the environmental sustainability of the production process.”

There are two award categories in the first edition: “Field”, which includes the subcategories “orchard management”, “plant protection” and “fruit harvest”; and “Post Harvest”, with three subcategories: “fruit sorting and grading”, “fruit storage” and “fruit processing”.

The Interpoma Technology Award 2018 will receive spontaneous entries submitted by the exhibitors, which will be assessed by a jury panel of nationally and internationally renowned experts and researchers. Massimo Tagliavini, president of SOI, from the Free University of Bolzano, will take part as chair of the jury panel, along with Paolo Balsari from the University of Turin, Angelo Zanella from the Laimburg Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Pietro Tonutti from the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Fabrizio Mazzetto from the Free University of Bolzano, and Stuart Tustin from New Zealand-based Plant and Food Research.

Companies will be assessed and awarded prizes on the basis of the products (equipment, systems, components, devices, etc.) that they enter for the competition.

Competition entries for products (a maximum of 1 per company) must be completed in English on a special entry form available on the Interpoma website and submitted to the email address interpoma@fruitecom.it by the deadline of September 10, 2018.

The award winners will be announced during the ceremony to take place at 6 pm on November 15 at the Südtirol Lounge, inside the Interpoma pavilions. The top entry in each of the two Interpoma Technology Award 2018 categories will win a ‘prize package’ worth 5,000 euros comprising: an Interpoma award winner’s plaque; the making of a 30-second commercial video promoting the product; and an increased profile at Interpoma 2018 through initiatives accompanied by communication, designed to highlight and publicize the winners and their achievements.

The publicity that the companies can expect to receive for the Technology Award will include a dedicated post on Interpoma’s social media channels, from Facebook to LinkedIn, and a news article in the Interpoma newsletter.

For more information: www.fierabolzano.it/interpoma/en/