The PMA AU/NZ Fresh Connections took place in Brisbane last week, the event opened with the Woman's Fresh Perspective dinner on Tuesday night, the conference day followed on Wednesday with the Tours and Special Interest groups to round things off on Thursday.
The Woman's Fresh Perspective dinner set the tone for the week's events with inspiring speakers.
The Conference day was opened by Senator Anne Rusdon, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources who spoke about what the sector must do to make Australia competitive in the markets. She later announced that the government had said that it would delay the decision on raising backpackers tax until the end of the year.
Michael Jackson spoke about the road ahead. How innovations which used to take a lifetime now take just a fraction of that time and how we need to look for uniqueness in our businesses.
Other speakers included Tom Kierath from Morgan Stanley, Mark Soccio from the Rabobank, Fi Bendall from the Bendalls Group, Malcom Keys from Hong Kong based Dragon Trend and Chris Cowan from Kantar World Panel.
The afternoon was split into a series of plenary sessions.
Bryan Silberman PMA and Micheal Worthington PMA AU/NZ gave an interesting view into the State of the Industry.
The conference day was rounded off by a touching tribute to Michael Worthington who is retiring from the organisation.
Day two was tradefair day.
The third and final day was special interest and tour day.
In the coming days FreshPlaza will be publishing a series of articles on the subjects discussed during the event.
