Congreso Nacional del Cafe´ 2015
ANACAFE
August 13–14, 2015
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
http://anacafe.org
World Ag Expo 2015
World Ag Expo
February 10-12, 2015
International Agri-Center
Tulare, CA
http://www.worldagexpo.com/
BioCycle West Coast Conference 2015
BioCycle West Coast Conference
April 13-16, 2015
Red Lion Hotel On The River
Portland, OR
http://biocyclewestcoast.com/
Global Innovations Include Compost Tea at Eco Expo Asia/Hong Kong
The latest innovations in environmental protection industries were recently showcased at Eco Expo Asia, including Growing Solutions Compost Tea Systems. President Michael Alms traveled to Hong Kong at the end of October for this four-day international trading fair where Growing Solutions participated in the U.S. pavilion. “This was an excellent opportunity to meet with many of our current global partners and to cultivate new contacts and relationships,” he explained.
Business Development Manager for Asia Bryan Ollier and Michael met with Stephen Young, Consul General of the United States of America in Hong Kong, and his team prior to the opening of the fair. The U.S. Commercial Service is our government’s international trade promotion agency and one of three groups sponsoring Growing Solution’s participation in Eco Expo Asia.
Attendees from Hong Kong, China, Australia, Malaysia, UK, Poland, Finland, USA, Mexico, India, Japan and Korea visited the Growing Solutions stand at the event. “Everyone has been intrigued and interested in how they can implement our technology within their sector, especially mainland China,” Michael explained.
Safe organic food production is a major concern for the Chinese government in addition to industrial corporate social and environmental responsibility. “Growing Solutions is clearly a good fit given these concerns, as our process provides value added products, not simply a reduction of negative impacts,” Bryan noted.
Growing Solutions was one of 18 exhibitors from the U.S. and one of 112 exhibitors from outside Honk Kong (total exhibitors: 271). Organized by the HKTDC and Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd., the fair drew 11,550 trade and 2,559 public attendees from around the globe: Asia, Europe, North America, Australia and the Pacific Islands, the Middle East, Central and South America, and Africa.
“This was one of our best endeavors to date for reaching new global markets,” Michael said. “And we could not have made this kind of impact without the help of Business Oregon and the Green Export Enabler Program (GEEP).”
Compost Tea and Vermicompost at USCC Conference
“The Soil and Water Connection, the 20th Annual US Composting Council Conference theme, certainly brought Compost Tea to mind as a cost effective tool to support water holding capacity in soil,” Growing Solutions President and USCC member Michael Alms commented while in Austin, TX. (We’ll go deeper into the subject of water holding capacity and Compost Tea in future posts.)
In other Council news, new Executive Director Michael Virga gave an excellent plenary speech outlining many new directions for USCC. Virga announced the relocation of USCC headquarters to Bethesda, MD in April 2012, allowing a more strategic proximity to Capitol Hill and key decision makers that will lift compost awareness on a national level.
“Presenters and attendees discussed establishing vermicompost as a distinct and viable new frontier,” Michael noted as the conference ended. ”Growing Solutions is looking forward to new projects implementing the use of vermicompost and Compost Tea throughout Mexico in 2012 with a new strategic partnership,” he added.