2024 - Your Commission at Work

Fruit Logistica

We attended Fruit Logistica in Berlin, the world’s largest trade fair for the fresh produce industry. As part of the trip to Fruit Logistica, we were also able to get a better understanding of competitor presence across the globe and interact with other markets. With direct access to the global market and a range of products, services, and technical solutions from every part of the supply chain, we used this opportunity to explore as delegates and review whether we should exhibit in future years. Fruit Logistica was worthwhile exploring, and there was a big presence of sweetpotatoes, including Egypt, Portugal, and Africa. In the future, we can look to attend as delegates again to monitor the market and set up meetings with buyers and importers who are in attendance. Westminster Kingsway College Competition To continue our ongoing partnership with Westminster Kingsway College, we organized another culinary competition, this time, for first-year students. The students were asked to create two servings of a main or dessert dish, using North Carolina sweetpotatoes as the integral part of the dish, all within 90 minutes. Executive Director Grainger and award winning development chef for North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission, Olivier Briault assisted in judging, with the winners receiving NCSPC-branded goodies and cash prizes. Following another successful year of the competition, the benefits of engaging with the students are evident. The recipes created demonstrated the versatility of sweetpotatoes and showed each student, through conversations with Michelle, illustrated that they had done their research and asked questions to further their appreciation for our state’s superfood.

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