Querétaro, Mexico - When you get the opportunity to conduct business 50 feet from the beach in one of Mexico’s most popular tourist destinations, you take it. From fostering new relationships tonurturing long-standing partnerships, the 9th Annual AMHPAC Convention went off without a hitch last week between the tropical waters on the coast of Cancun, the full schedule of passionate speakers, and the many trade show opportunities.
As Mexico looks to grow its global presence in the fresh produce marketplace, attendees across 20 Mexican states were offered the chance to learn about the latest in advancing agriculture through technology, addressing the challenges within the changing political landscape, adapting to global trends, and building more food safety initiatives.
The event kicked off Wednesday night with a pool-side opening reception to bring the AMHPAC community together with national and international buyers, leaders in the horticultural industry, agricultural growers, government officials, representative of the supply chain, researchers and consultants involved in this sector. Not to mention that many attendees brought their families in-tow to take advantage of the tropical locale, including AMHPAC's former President Juan Ariel Reyes and his three daughters Maria Fernanda, Camilla, and Issabella, who shared a special message with us.
Juan Ariel passed the torch this year and named Oscar Woltman, General Manager of FreshMex, as the association’s new President. Oscar shared with me the vision of AMHPAC as the team looks to the future.
“AMHPAC is now in its 9th year and as we continue to evolve, our goal is to bring more value to our customers, members, and the buying community whether that is through accelerated research and development programs, promoting innovation, building more social responsibility initiatives, or developing more high-performance solutions and opportunities," Oscar tells me. "The success of this year’s event is a testament to our success and reinforces our drive to become a leading association and resource in the minds of both the retail and supply-side members in our industry.”
From a session with Dr. Estelle Cheret Bittelin, Director of the R & D department at RKW, Agriculture Division, who spoke to new developments in plastics technologies, to Peter Ravensbergen, Leader of the Food Safety Program at Wageningen University UR Food & Biobased Research who spoke to greenhouse innovation in the Netherlands, the conversations provided a collaborative environment to discuss all matters of produce innovation. Top-of-mind were the changing agrifood supply chain, looking to different international market opportunities, sustainability, global trends in flavor and convenience, as well as one of my favorite topics- robotics and automation, to increase efficiency and productivity.
As AMHPAC CEO Alfredo Diaz Belmontes previously told me, AMHPAC estimates that the value of the installed infrastructure is over $3.5 billion, and still growing exponentially each year. The demand for year-round supplies of fresh produce is driving this rapid growth across Mexico’s agricultural geographies with 80% of all Mexican produce grown under protected schemes destined for export to the United States. In addition, 6% goes to Canada and the remainder stays in the national markets. Mexico’s vast micro-climates allow for a diverse mix of protected agriculture technologies to thrive and create more cost-effective solutions.
And, as you can imagine, in a setting like the Fiesta Americana Condesa Hotel in Cancun, it wasn’t all business. Attendees sat down to a Mayan dinner on Thursday night in the hotel’s theatre where diners sipped on cocktails, muchas banderas (not the flag), wine, and more, over a four-course meal and a presentation of traditional Mayan dance and culture. With the hotel’s large footprint and many amenities, we had our own little eco-system of education, conversation, libations, and laughter.
The event wrapped up with a closing ceremony and a tour to Xoximilco where colorful trajineras floated through the canals of Cancun, and party-goers feasted on authentic Mexican food, took a few shots (or more) of tequila and got a taste of Mexican tradition, music, and folklore.
While next year’s location for the 10th Annual AMHPAC Convention has not yet been announced, I have my fingers crossed that we will be headed back to the sandy beaches and abundant tequila of Cancun.
