Wednesday 12th November 2014 - Cocktail party
Lovely cocktail party enjoyed by all, with silly faces for photo opportunities, pirate masks, novelty beards and good wine!
Thursday 13th November
It was 9am before people settled down to their seats. There was then technical issues with the laptop of Maryse and finally the problem was solved.
Supplier presentations
Sound was not heard on the videos. The presenting suppliers I could tell were rather frustrated. Only sponsors presented for 6 minutes. New suppliers presented for 3 minutes. Suppliers who were neither did not present. They complained about this. Stan, Mark and Polly agreed that that was the strategy this year to encourage all suppliers to sponsor next year.
New producer members
Maryse introduced the new producer members
Eduardo Reed - Mexico from Hielo Cristal de Irapuato S.A.
Konstantine Mentziou - Greece from Yiobi B. Mentziou OE
Marti Cladera - Spain from Gel Illenc
Theme: is EPIA prepared for tomorrow?
Stan presented the slides are EPIA prepared for tomorrow. He challenged the floor to come back next year and say what they changed.
The presentation covered:
What is happening in the world today? The effects it is holding on our companies and possible changes.
Unemployment in EU
Is 2015 going to better?
What can be done to change our businesses and meet the changes in a ever changing market.
4 attributes to focus:
General Business Skills
I do, my business is prosperous . . .
Adequate Capital
I could always use more, but my company is doing fine . . .
Personality Requirements
I got my business off the ground and my customers love me . . .
Provide a great place to work
During the busy season tempers flare and . . . You know things happen.
TED TALK
http://www.ted.com/playlists/140/how_leaders_inspire?utm_content=awesm-inlinelinkcreator&utm_medium=on.ted.com-facebook-share&utm_source=facebook.com&awesm=on.ted.com_e0QAc&utm_campaign=null
16 minute video about how to inspire: WHY? HOW? WHAT?
EPIA Recognition and Grant Funding Opportunities - Gustav Felix
Gustav Felix presented slides.
Introduction and background. Water coolers Europe – Director General, German Water coolers Association – managing director, Austrian water cooler association – president, European Federation of bottled water association – Board director
Why associations are needed: should be not for profit, should be unique source of info for the industry, represent the interests of the entire industry, protect its members, networking and meeting points, secures your investments. Example: NESLE and DANONE both join associations.
Dangers and opportunities: the press can be bad news… associations help crush bad press.
Importance of a strong association: communicates with EU commissions, helps the development of European legislation, create their own regulation.
Why did you join EPIA? Protection of the industry. Why else? It is the life insurance of your business. Association is recognized as a sign of quality.
What needs to be done to strengthen EPIA? The association needs to have acceptance and recognition. Create a code of good hygiene practice. Rename the PIQCS so it is more obvious. Follow up on EU regulations related to food.
We have to promote “ICE YOU CAN TRUST”! How?: Participate in public funded projects that provide exposure to packaged ice as a desired and beneficial consumer product and get more public recognition of the benefits of good, clean, and desirable packaged ice.
Grant funding opportunities: via projects and projects should: * Provide high added value at EU level * Involve at least three partners from different countries * Be innovative * Last no longer than 3 years.
Work with other associations: ideas as follows: * Codex Commission B17 - Board Member * DIN (CEN) - Board Member of Standardization Committee * BFR - Federal Institute for Risk Assessment Expertise work at: * FDE - FCP FCMAT (Food Contact Material Expert Group) * BMVEL - Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection * BLL - German Federation of Food Law and Food Science.
Q&A’s:
Revenue Generation in the Off-Season: Stan Williams
Stan presented slides on how to generate money in the winter months: pellets, logs, the floor was asked what do you do?
Sculptures, scale ice for fish, blocks of ice for carving, advent calendars: a sculpture a day throughout December supported by local businesses who pay for the sculpture but put their logo in it and 1000s of people pass it each day. Batteries at Xmas. (For toys) delivering of presents by utilising vans.
Preparation for the PIQCS (Package Ice Quality Control Standards): Carla Marques, NSF
Carla presented the importance of quality control standards in the Package ice industry.
PIQCS Inspection Case Study: Giuseppe Olivetti, PoloNord
Giuseppe was the first ever EPIA member to be certified via NSF and passed with flying colours. Supported by a good case study presentation of his experiences from the certification process.
HACCP Certification Progress toward 100% Compliance: Bill Bentley, IWJ
Introduced the 5 phases of certification.
After a short bus journey the evening started in the centre of Athens, where we were greeted by the treasure hunt team. The challenge was to find the 20 missing pearls around the Plaka district of the city, each found pearl brought an interesting tale. The treasure hunt was enjoyed by all and the winning team was the red team who all received a bag of traditional Greek herbs. The final destination of the evening was spent in a traditional Greek tavern, where we ate a huge feast of Greek salads, tsatziki, lamb shank, pork dishes, mountains of delish food, wine and beer was served whilst we listened to a live band and Jack and Maryse danced the night away.
Friday 14th November 2014
9am Keynote speaker: Dr. Katerelos Nikolaos: Head of the division of information, training and the IT department of the Hellenic Food Authority. “Turning water into ice: A love journey from Safety to Quality”
Dr Nikolaos, gave an insightful and challenging talk regarding ice and quality. It was discussion led with over an hour of questions and answers which all the members avidly took part in. The discussion finished at 11am and the board were very impressed we discussed whether he might join the EPIA as an honorary member.
Polly suggested that we have the equivalent of Dr Nikolaos in each country we visit at the EPIA conference, as rules change from country to country.
A quick break was had where the keynote speaker mingled with the members.
11.15 Gustav Felix gave his final presentation on “Overview of new water filter regulations”
The talk focused on how the EPIA can relate to the water coolers associations and what they are doing to standardize requirements, performance and labelling of water treatment appliances… The Project Committee (PC) covers safety requirements and test methods for water treatment devices he explained to avoid disasters in food safety all EPIA members need Filters
* Filtration removes contaminants that make ice taste bad * the water filter helps maintain peak ice production * Water filtration decreases maintenance and repair costs * Proper filtration is the only ways to guarantee a healthy, tasty product
11.30 Committee Reports and Discussion
Treasurer’s report – Pedro Torres. We saw the budget for this current year and the bank balance. It was also agreed that an outside auditor should be employed to look at the financials.
Supplier Representative Report – Mark Allan, Supplier Representative. A good open discussions was held. It was agreed that next year we had more time to spend with the suppliers, all suppliers have a chance to present. There were some heated discussions regarding some suppliers who claimed they were not aware of the fact they would not be able to present this year, despite numerous emails and contact form the supplier representative. It was cleared up and finished on a good note when all comments were taken on board and the promise of a bigger supplier forum at the conference in 2015.
Producer/Distributor Report – Jack Stensland, Producer Representative. The producers agreed that on the whole the conference had improved year on year, but next year would like more supplier time and what everyone would like to see is presentations in the morning 9-1 and then the afternoon off to network, followed by evening activity.
EPIA excellence awards for member accomplishments such as best Website, Best New Product and lifetime achiever award. Polly encouraged everyone to apply and the awards will be presented in the evening. It was agreed no board of directors can win the awards.
Election of the new board of directors:
Chairman: Stan Williams
Secretary: Polly Marr
Producer Representative: Jack Stensland
Supplier Representative: Mark Allan
Finance officer: Francisco Wendt
The conference finished early at 1.15pm for an afternoon off before the evening entertainment.
7pm - Seaside Banquet at the beautiful restaurant Viva Mare, we ate delicious food and wine and Stan and Polly presented the awards for first ever EPIA Awards of Excellence.
Best Website: Coalza from Spain
Best Supplier Innovation: Leer from USA
Best Producer Innovation: Hielos Sierra Nevada/Cubers from Spain
Lifetime Achievement: Glaçière Narbonnaise from France
Saturday 15th November
Factory Tour to Crystal Ice A.S and 3rd annual EPIA ice throwing championships
Winners:
Male: Carston Schweitzer from CRIO ICE GmhH - Germany
Female: Line Kjølhede from PLUS ICE Aps - Denmark
Booby prize: Bridget Marr
See you next year in Montpellier - South of France in Languedoc/Roussillon Region hosted by Olivier and Gilles Phalippou from Glaçière Narbonnaise
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