IFSTI wins the 2016 IUFoST WORLD CONGRESS!
TIt is with great pleasure that I can confirm that the International Union of
Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) has granted IFSTI the 2016 IUFoST World
Congress. Winning this prestigious congress was not an easy task considering
that countries such as Norway, India and Thailand were competitors in the
bidding process. IFSTI had been close to winning the bid for the 2014 IUFoST
World Congress which will be held next year in Montreal, Canada. Securing the
congress will be the second time IFSTI has been entrusted with the task of
staging an IUFoST congress. The last time was in 1983 when individuals like
Brian McKenna and Vincent McLoughlin and Robin Joseph blazed a trail which the
current council of IFSTI is glad to emulate. IFSTI in bidding for the 2014
IUFoST World Congress learned invaluable lessons on where our bid fell somewhat
short but we sought and took on board feedback and during these discussions in
CapeTown, IFSTI secured the IUFoST Global Food Safety Conference which was
staged in October in conjunction with our colleagues in Teagasc and UCD.
The 2012 World Congress was held in Iguassu Falls in Brazil. When the bidding
process for the 2016 World Congress commenced IFSTI was again shortlisted along
with India, Thailand and Norway. The bids from Norway and India were
particularly strong as the rules give a weighting to continents or countries
where the congress has never been held.
I had noted carefully criticisms made of our last bid and in drafting the new bid
documentation made sure every issue of concern was addressed in the presentation
documentation. Whereas the 2010 bid presentation generally addressed the issues
in food science and technology this time I drafted the bid presentation in two
parts. The former met the minimum requirements of the bid process in identifying
the issues of concern but the latter provided a ‘world based model’ in
addressing these issues in a practical way.
I had 10 minutes to present and 20 minutes to defend. During the presentation I
considered the ‘body language’ of the judges showed they were increasingly
impressed and receptive with the prescriptive manner of solutions proffered. In
addition to addressing the issues of relevance in food science and technology I
also included the major fundamental issues facing the world now and in the
immediate decades ahead including climate change, water availability,
desertification as well as population growth, increased urbanisation and food
security. I fielded their questions reasonably well as I had thoroughly
researched these. After deliberation by the judges it subsequently emerged our
bid was unanimously judged the winner. The easy part is now done so we have a
lot of work to do between now and August 2016. Towards this end IFSTI have
appointed Professor Patrick Wall as Scientific Committee Chairman and we are
seeking nominations for lecturers, chairpersons and individuals who will rank
the abstracts for presentation and poster display.
This World Congress will be an outstanding opportunity to showcase the Irish food
and drinks industry and in the current economic climate Ireland needs to grasp
this opportunity with both hands!
Rory Ryan
President.