World Grain - October 2011 - 88

FEATURE

lour millers from Europe and Asia gathered Sept. 10-14 in Florence, Italy at the Sixth Annual International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM) Eurasia District Conference and Expo. Held at the Hotel Sheraton in Florence, the conference attracted 250 delegates from 18 countries and featured an expo with 45 exhibitors from around the world. The majority of millers at the conference were from Italy, although there also was a large contingent from Romania. Melinda Farris, executive vice-president of the IAOM, said Florence was a perfect location for the event, given Italy’s tradition in ﬂour milling and pasta production. The Italian milling industry processes more than 10 million tonnes of wheat into more than 7.3 million tonnes of ﬂour and semolina. Italy is the world’s leading pasta producer and its per capita pasta consumption also ranks No. 1 globally. “I think what the Italians brought to the table was insight into durum milling,” Farris said. “They were able to share their experience in that area, and it was really valuable for those who attended the conference.” The conference began with opening remarks from three of Italy’s top milling industry ofﬁcials — Umberto Sacco, president of the Italian Millers Association; Maurizio Monti, president of the Italian Operative Millers Association; and Fabrizio Vitali, vice-president, The Great Pasta Expo-Pasta Trend. The educational program featured presentations from industry experts on a variety of important topics that addressed both technical issues and market information. Presentations on the international durum market, which is of the utmost importance for Italian millers, and the international wheat market were well attended as were presentations on the Italian and Russian milling industries. Farris said a presentation by Francesco Casillo, president of Casillo Group, entitled “Strategic Ways to Develop Business,” was very well received by conference delegates. “His message was that millers tend to make capital investments in an effort to improve their bottom line, but they should explore other options such as provinding value-added services for their customers,” she said.
88

Eurasia
by Arvin Donley

Eighteen countries represented at the sixth annual conference and expo, held this year in Florence, Italy
WHAT’S NEW The conference also included a “What’s New” program in which suppliers discussed their latest products and services. Bühler AG gave a presentation on food safety in the milling industry, focusing on the role that equipment design plays in meeting safety requirements. Omas talked about its Galileo plansifter, a dew point-free sifter that addresses millers’ concerns about ﬂour consistency and sanitation. Perten Instruments discussed its new Rapid Visco Analyser, RVA 4500, a starch pasting curve with speed and precision. Chopin Technologies talked about its recently launched NIR device, the Junior Infraneo, which can test both ﬂour and whole grains. On the trade show ﬂoor, SEA S.r.l. was demonstrating its new Pixel Next optical sorter. Pixel NEXT is the evolution of Pixel color sorter and features improved CCD cameras resolution, and the ability to use LED, RGB or neon tubes lighting system according with products to be sorted. It offers up to seven chutes and 28 cameras for maximum ﬂexibility on sorting conﬁgurations.“Pixel Next combines state-of-the-art technology with a user-friendly system,” SEA said. NEW TIME AND LOCATION Next year’s IAOM Eurasia District Conference and Expo will take place in Split, Croatia, but instead of being held in the fall the event will switch to early June, Farris said.
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World Grain - October 2011

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