In the course of Interpoma Connects, the first fully digital edition of the Interpoma Congress in its more than 20 years of history, a total of 14 international experts presented their presentations in just 420 minutes, which dealt with the most recent research results and sustainability strategies of the future.

Wilhelm Kremer-Schillings, recognized in the public sphere as Bauer Willi (Farmer Willi) on his Internet blog, explained why the farmer is often appreciated, but not the agriculture they do, as well as the way in which they are perceives creative and sincere communication as equals and with simple language. This practical point of view was later supported by the technical opinion of Christoph Josephi, of the Panama PR agency based in Stuttgart, who is convinced that whoever does more than the rest and can prove it, should talk about it. This also applies to the recurring theme of sustainability, to which the following speakers dedicated their presentation.

For example, Alfred Strigl from plenum Österreich presented the sustainability strategy developed in collaboration with all the major players in agriculture for the apple trade in South Tyrol, which is called sustainapple and has ten packages. of concrete measures and a certain timetable. The agriculture council's biodiversity project, which was personally presented by the regional manager Arnold Schuler, is heading in the same direction, and which aims to turn South Tyrol into the garden of Europe with the greatest biodiversity.

On the second day of the congress, professors Massimo Tagliavini and Damiano Zanotelli from the Free University of Bolzano presented a study of the CO2 footprint of the apple, which highlighted that the environmental impact of regional apple production must be improved and, in turn Instead, the needs of fruit growers and the desire of consumers for more sustainable production must be met. Finally, the congress focused on a very promising cooperative project on zero waste in agriculture. In fact, for only two years, and yet with 36 different products already on the market all year round, the Zéro Résidu brand from Pesticides has received great recognition in France, which, with a 5% market share in seven years, he has reached an ambitious goal.

Likewise, the chief pomologist of the Laimburg Experimentation Center, Walter Guerra, introduced alternatives to the rootstock of the M9 apple par excellence in conjunction with representatives of breeding programs originating from Great Britain, New Zealand and the USA. to the roots of the matter and it was clear the impact that apple cultivation has on income and fruit quality and that this crop can contribute to a more sustainable production adapted to the climate. In the future, farmers will not only have many more new apple varieties, but also a line of innovative rootstocks.

«With 256 attendees from 40 countries and 138 B2B virtual meetings between businesses of 20 minutes each, which makes a total of 46 hours of direct interaction between actors of the international apple trade, we can declare that the first edition of the Interpoma Business Match it has been a complete success, ”explains the president of the Bolzano Chamber of Commerce, Michl Ebner. Fiera Bolzano conceived the digital platform with the help of the Bolzano Chamber of Commerce and the EEN Enterprise Europe Network and it has proven to be an initiative with great potential, as well as offering immediate use for all participants completely free of charge.

To harmoniously end the two-day platform for the apple trade, the Interpoma Startup Award was held on Friday at noon. This award for the best young company was discussed among eleven attendees from seven countries. The jury, made up of eight experts, finally chose Pixofarm from Austria. The application allows you to use images of apples to receive real-time information on the status of the fruit and make harvest forecasts. As the main prize, the emerging company obtained its own position in the next edition of the international trade fair for apple Interpoma from November 4 to 6, 2021, where they will be able to present themselves in front of an international specialized audience.

“The high number of international attendees has shown in a fascinating way that Interpoma remains the world's leading specialist platform for the apple trade even in digital form. We are very satisfied with the result, which has allowed us to gather very valuable experiences that will help us to continue developing Interpoma as a consolidated hybrid platform with a mix of digital and face-to-face content”, says Thomas Mur, director of the Bolzano Fair.