39th World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress, hosted by the International Nut & Dried Fruit Council (INC), will bring together over 1,100 industry professionals from more than 60 countries in Dubai from May 11-13. The INC Congress is the only international event devoted solely to the nut and dried fruit industry, and the exciting three-day programme will provide attendees with the most up-to-date information from the industry's top leaders.
A series of roundtables on almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts, peanuts, dates, dried apricots, dried cranberries, dried figs, prunes, raisins, sultanas, and currants will provide updates on production, consumption, and trade statistics.
In addition, 40 companies will showcase their most recent products and services. Seminars on sustainability and nutrition research will be held during the congress. Presentations will be given by Sunny Verghese, Co-Founder and Group CEO of Olam International, and Saket Modi, Co-Founder and CEO of Safe Security.
Marta Moren Abat, the International Relations Coordinator for the Directorate-General for Maritime and Fisheries at the European Commission will give a presentation on water resources opportunities and challenges and the relation to agriculture and food security.
The INC is the international nut and dried fruit industry's umbrella organization. Its members include over 850 companies in the nut and dried fruit sector from over 80 countries.
INC membership accounts for more than 85% of the global commercial "farm gate" value of trade in nuts and dried fruits. The mission of the INC is to stimulate and facilitate long-term growth in the global nut and dried fruit industry.
According to J. Rajmohan Pillai, Chairman of Beta Group, which owns the brand NutKing, holding the conference in Dubai is appropriate because of the recently implemented India-UAE trade pact. The industry is rapidly expanding, and the demand for dried fruits and nuts as healthy foods is increasing. However, he claims that logistics costs are crippling both the Indian and global dried fruits and nuts industries.
