The impact on production of climate extremes, very high production costs due to the sharp rise in raw material and energy prices, and the higher minimum wage; this all requires further optimization of asparagus and berry production, as well as direct marketing.

“We are very pleased that we were able to attract many interesting companies with innovative products and creative ideas for our trade fair combo, despite or even because of the great challenges. The innovations clearly show that companies know what is at stake in the industry: cost reduction, labor savings, personnel savings, adapted production and direct marketing,” says Simon Schumacher, spokesman for the board of the Association of Southern German Asparagus and Strawberry Growers and organizer of expoSE and expoDirekt.

At the trade fair combo expoSE & expoDirekt, numerous innovations and proven products will be on display at Messe Karlsruhe from November 23 to 24. A total of around 400 exhibitors from 11 nations will present themselves at the 26th expoSE -Europe’s leading trade fair for asparagus and berry production- and the 11th expoDirekt -Germany’s largest trade fair for direct agricultural marketing.

Among the first-time exhibitors at expoSE there will be, for example, sanitary and living container manufacturer Adapteo, harvest aid manufacturer Ant Robotics, greenhouse manufacturer Idromeccanica Luccini, and Insolight, a Swiss company that combines crop protection with solar panels. In the field of irrigation optimization, which is a very important topic after the past very dry months, new companies such as ecoTube Germany, farmunited, IMKO Micromodultechnik and Weenat will be present.

Regarding staff shortages, which were increasingly troublesome during the this year’s season, there are many creative solutions. These range from new checkout systems and payment machines to vending machines and self-service stores to a completely staff-less shopping store. Newcomers in this area include Bischof Automaten, with its variety of vending machines, Kesseböhmer Warenpräsentation with its staff-less farm store, and the NonStop Shop with individual vending machines.

This year, for the first time, the following companies, among others, will enrich the expoDirekt portfolio with their additions to the product range: Grischberli with its Franconian kettle chips, Mahlzeit Hofgenuss with vegan spreads and dips, Patrizio Gioia with olives and olive specialties and Weingut Wohlgemuth-Schnürr with its wines, as well as Martens Trading with hand-painted ceramics.

Impetus for the industry: expoSE & expoDirekt Innovation Awards 2022
On the first day of the fair, the expoSE and expoDirekt Innovation Awards will be presented at the stands of the respective winners. An independent jury of experts will review all submissions and will then award the prizes. The jury includes Ralf Große Dankbar, asparagus advisor to the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture, Ute Heimann, editor-in-chief of trade magazine HOFdirekt, Thomas Kühlwetter, editor-in-chief of trade magazine Spargel- und ErdbeerProfi, Markus Kirn, farm manager, Isabelle Kokula, asparagus cultivation advisor to the Karlsruhe District Office, Simone Hofmann, chairwoman of the Vereinigung der Hessischen Direktvermarkter and Joachim Ziegler, horticulture group leader of the Vegetable Cultivation Advisory Service at the Dienstleistungszentrum Ländlicher Raum Rheinpfalz.

New: International Asparagus Meeting on November 23, 2022
For the first time, the VSSE is organizing the International Asparagus Meeting (IAM) together with the trade journal Asparagus World. During the IAM, speakers will address asparagus production in individual countries in Europe and beyond. The aim is to learn more about the asparagus production in these, to exchange information about the market and to avoid any possible overproduction. The International Asparagus Meeting will be held in English. For more information on the program, visit www.expo-se.de. Registration is required at www.expo-se.de/vortraege-foren/international-asparagus-meeting.

Technical presentations at the 33rd Asparagus Day and the Direct Marketers’ Forum
At the 33rd Asparagus Day, the topics will include the positives and negatives of foil use in asparagus cultivation, the avoidance of browning of the asparagus spears, the cultivation of wild asparagus, as well as selective harvesting with the AVL Motion. Asparagus Day will take place on Wednesday, November 23, 2022, from 2 – 5:15 p.m. in the large conference hall (2nd floor) of the Karlsruhe Exhibition Center. The event will be organized by the Agricultural Office in the Karlsruhe District Office, the Karlsruhe Regional Council and the Association of Southern German Asparagus and Strawberry Growers.

Kristin Rotherm, editor of HOFdirekt will give a presentation on “Self-service according to plan – how do vending machines and self-service stores work in practice?” on November 24 at 1:30 PM at the Messe Konferenz Center.

For more information:
www.expo-se.de
www.vsse.de