On November 17, 2022, the INC attended FRUCOM’s open discussion and dinner in Hamburg, Germany. The meeting was attended by around 40 participants from different nut and dried fruit organizations and companies, like the Aegean Dried Fruit Exporters Association (Türkiye), Almond Board of California (USA), American Peanut Council (USA), Blacksea Exporters Association (Türkiye), FoodDrinkEurope (Belgium), Istanbul Hazelnut and Hazelnut Products Exporters Association (Türkiye), NDFTA The Nut and Dried Fruit Trade Association (UK), NZV (Netherlands), Safe Food Alliance (USA), Waren-Verein der Hamburger Börse e.V. (Germany) and the INC.
Ms. Anna Boulova, Secretary General of FRUCOM presented an overview of this year’s activities, such as their participation in the International Peanut Forum (Budapest, Hungary); Almendrave’s meeting on almonds and hazelnuts (Madrid, Spain); Aegean Exporters’ Association Board Meeting and Seminar (Izmir, Turkey); NDFTA Technical Committee Meeting and Annual Meeting (London, UK); visits to members in South Africa (raisins), Turkey (dried fruits) and ofi’s hazelnut orchards and factory; and the meetings of the working groups (FRUCOM’s) on Sustainability, Dried Fruit & Nuts, and Nutrition & Communication. She also announced new partnerships with the European Breakfast Cereal Association (CEEREAL) and the European Federation of Honey Packers and Distributors (FEEDM). During the Q&A, some participants highlighted the disruptions mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOSH/MOAH) contamination is causing.