This week, we bring you updates on the start of this busy month when the Grapa teams were on the road again, presenting lectures and symposiums in both Egypt and South Africa.
It’s the only show in town
Upon invitation from HEIA, Shachar presented a lecture on April 1st at HEIA headquarters in 6th of October City in Egypt.
HEIA (Horticultural Export Improvement Association) is an association which supports the Egyptian horticultural community; producers, exporters and suppliers with the aim of increasing exports of fresh produce through continuous improvement of quality production, marketing, training and management assistance.
Shachar’s presentation ‘Current and Future Potential for Egyptian Table Grape Exports’, explained that before India began to export table grapes to Europe there was a clear separation between the exports from the northern and southern hemispheres and growers could find the right niche in the markets in order to improve their income.
With the advent of significant exportation from both India and Peru into the European markets, this principle separation in the export markets disappeared, thereby closing the once desirable window of May to June for the Egyptian table grape growers into Europe and UK. In light of this, the Chinese import market of table grapes in this window has become very attractive and relevant for high-quality ARRA varieties.
Since Grapa’s early varieties have proven themselves, with excellent shipping and shelf-life qualities, the Chinese importers are looking for the ARRA 29 (ARRA Passion Fire™) and ARRA 30 (ARRA Sugar Drop™), together with new ARRA selections which will soon be released.
During the seminar, Ms. Demay Zeng (pictured below), Commerical Supervisor of Fresh Go Ltd of the Joy Wing Mau Group in China, presented a lecture on ‘China Market Table Grapes; Requirements and Potential’.
Meanwhile, in South Africa
Grapa’s CEO, Rafi Karniel, together with Grapa’s IPR Manager, Yael Victoria Miara and Grapa’s Legal Affairs Manager, Alex Sapir, attended the 2019 CIOPORA Annual General Meeting (AGM): which was held on 1-5 April in Stellenbosch, South Africa. More than one hundred participants from around the world attended this week-long event. The attendees comprised of CIOPORA member breeders of ornamentals and fruits and IP attorneys, and their guests.
High-level decision makers from China, USA, UPOV and the EU participated as lecturers and panelists. The CIOPORA AGM is an important event for raising awareness of IP rights for plant innovations, and for joining forces to advocate for better and stronger breeders’ rights. This years’ Enforcement Symposium at the CIOPORA AGM, chaired by Rafi, who is a CIOPORA Board Member, has been very successful, with excellent presentations from a Supreme Court Judge from China, CIOPORA breeder members and local attorneys. As Rafi surmised, “The Symposium is now a tradition and we hope it will take place every year”.
During their short visit to South Africa, Yael and Alex found time in their packed schedule to visit Topfruit, the ARRA agent in South Africa.
