Crops

Forging agri-food and climate connections in Singapore

The event reinforced CIAC’s reputation as an annual ‘gathering of the minds’ for Canada-connected individuals in Asia. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

The Canada-in-Asia Conference 2024 (CIAC2024) which took place from 26–29 February in Singapore, concluded on a successful note

Launched by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada) and Universities Canada (UnivCan), the conference which received more than 460 attendees from across Canada and more than 35 cities across the Indo-Pacific region, focused on two thematic areas namely, agri-food and climate solutions.

Experts, investors, policy-makers, researchers, business leaders, and innovators from across Asia and Canada gathered at the event to exchange perspectives, knowledge, and ideas and to create collaborative partnerships in these two critical sectors.

Over four days at the Pan Pacific Singapore, CEOs, business leaders, and representatives from Canadian chambers of commerce networked with trade commissioners, investors, leading academics, and policy experts to build partnerships and discuss the most pressing issues in Canada-Asia co-operation, trade, value chains, security, applied science, sustainable development, and investment in the agri-food and climate spaces. The event reinforced CIAC’s reputation as an annual ‘gathering of the minds’ for Canada-connected individuals in Asia.

Moreover, a complementary component of CIAC2024 was the Venture into Sustainability (ViS) programme which was presented by APF Canada in collaboration with Anchor Asia (Anchor Taiwan) and supported by the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy of the Government of Canada. The programme featured a curated delegation of Asia-based and Canada-based investors, select Canadian technology startups, government officials from Canada and Asia, and accelerators/incubators in the region’s innovation ecosystem.

“With the dual themes of food security and climate solutions endorsed by attendees at our inaugural Canada-in-Asia Conference in 2023, CIAC2024 successfully exposed key players in Asia and Canada to each other’s thinking and innovations and their needs and priorities,” said Jeff Nankivell, president and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. “As we look ahead to CIAC2025 next February in Singapore, our annual Canada-in-Asia Conferences represent a new signature, can’t-miss-event for Canada-connected people from across Asia and Asia-engagers from across Canada to deepen engagement and strengthen collaboration between our two dynamic regions.”

For more information, visit: www.asiapacific.ca; www.univcan.ca and https://www.canada-in-asia.ca

Fresh fruit packaging made easy with Ishida weighers

The weighers have helped deliver greater efficiencies, while maintaining the quality of the cut fruit. (Image source: Voie Certe)

With the aim of meeting increasing demands, Ishida weighing technology has played a significant role in enabling French fresh produce specialist, Voie Verte to expand and develop its range of fresh cut fruits and fruit salads

Fresh, sticky and bruise-sensitive products are generally delicate, which makes them hard to handle. To address this issue, Ishida Fresh Food Weighers (FFW) were specifically designed to provide a solution to the efficient and accurate weighing of these products. So far, three of these weighers have been installed to maximise production capacity in Voie Verte's new facility which includes a large and dedicated area for fresh-cut products. Growing demand coupled with exceptional performance has urged the company to invest in two additional six-head weighers.

The presence of a distribution system at the top of the weigher allows one or two operators to evenly distribute products through belt feeders to the weigh hoppers, which also allows operators to have a final check on product quality before it is weighed into portions. The FFW’s ergonomic layout makes it easy to spread out products on the feeder table and the belt feeders facilitate a precise and consistent product feed to the hoppers. Scraper hopper gates, ribbed surfaces and scrapers on the collection belt conveyors minimise product sticking. These features help to maximise the speed, accuracy and efficiency of the weighing process.

In the case of Voie Verte, the weighers have helped deliver greater efficiencies, ensuring precise and accurate weighing of each portion of fruit with minimal giveaway, while maintaining the quality of the cut fruit. This has allowed the company to assign fewer operators to the packaging operation for these products.

The intuitive remote-control unit on each machine allows for quick recipe changes, which makes the weighers suitable for short production cycles. Hoppers can also be easily removed for cleaning, enabling recipes changes to be carried out in around 10 minutes. In addition, the 12-head model is ideal for fruit mixtures as it can weigh two different fruits simultaneously. At present, the weighers are operating at a speed of around 20 trays per minute. The reason for choosing lower speeds is to maintain smoothness and consistency, while also allowing other equipment on the line to keep up with the FFW's maximum speed.

For more information, visit: www.voieverte.fr