Next week, the first International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS) Roundtable on durability will take place at GroentenFruit Huis (NL) . Chair Gry Søresen (Norway) and co-host Daan van Empel (the Netherlands) will lead an international exchange of durable knowledge from around the globe.

We will start with Bert Urlings (Vion) who gives an "out-of-the-fresh-produce-box" view on durable from the perspective of meat producers. This will be followed by 6 other talks on durable from 6 different countries and 3 different continents, including Freshfel Europe. 

Let's make the world of fresh produce more durable!

The roundtable discussions take place on Monday 26 November 2018. For more information, contact the hosts. Or join the International Federation for Produce Standards and let’s get working on standards for fresh produce globally .

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Implementation of Mango PLU labels to incorporate GS1 DataBar for loose product traceability and scannability.

This coming season, in line with other loose produce categories, major retailers including Woolworths, Coles and Metcash (IGA) are asking their Australian mango suppliers to collaborate on the implementation of a more defined PLU label incorporating DataBars.

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The EU FRESH INFO FORUM is back!

IFPS is proud to be one of the founding fathers of the biggest event in Information management and Standards in Fresh Produce in the world: the EU Fresh Info Forum.  This year, the week of 26 to 30 November will be entirely dedicated to the Tsunami of Technology which is headed our way but offers great opportunities for the Fresh Produce sector.

The program is packed with interesting events for international guests. On Monday 26 November, a special IFPS roundtable will be hosted on Durable Fresh Produce Standards. On Tuesday 27 November, the IFPS General Board Meeting & General Assembly will take place. On Wednesday 28, we will take a tour around some of the finest and most advanced companies in Dutch Horticulture.  Thursday 29 will be entirely dedicated to the Forum and we will conclude the week with a special Standards Roundtable on Friday.

We will host this year's event in two new Fresh locations in the Netherlands.  

So be sure to add these dates to your calendar and schedule your flight to the Netherlands! We will be back with more information after the summer holidays. 

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PLU codes have been put in the spotlight in Canada. Yesterday, CBC News published an article on PLU codes called 'What those little stickers on fruits and vegetables are for". The article goes deeper into what PLU codes are and why they are used. 

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With over 1,400 price look-up codes (PLUs) now in use around the globe, the International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS) has launched a user-friendly app to help users from across the supply chain to source PLUs. The launch of the app comes at a time when the demand for the voluntary codes, used for price identification at retail point of sale for fresh produce items that are sold individually, is increasing in North America, Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand and more recently, Mexico. 

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On Thursday June 23rd, the Board of the IFPS met at the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago for their Spring Meeting in conjunction with United Fresh Produce Association’s Convention, United Fresh. The Board welcomed new Board member Gry Sørensen from The Norwegian Association of Fruit and Vegetable Wholesalers.  

In addition Kelly Kirschner, VP of Global Marketing at Sinclair Systems International, LLC participated as a representative of this new associated member. Also new to the group was Elena Tomanovich, Senior Director Industry Engagement as the new liaison for Fresh at GS1 Global.

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IFPS teams up with Asia Fruit Logistica for the first-ever conference for Information Management, Standards & Technology for Asia’s fresh fruit and vegetable sector. 

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