Media Alert: EBIC Summit 2024 – 13 June 2024 at Sparks in Brussels

June 2024

EBIC gathers key players from the biostimulants and agrifood industries to discuss the future of our food chain in turbulent times

The EBIC Summit is nearly upon us. This invitation-only event brings together policymakers, farmer representatives, food chain leaders, NGOs, academics, and industry to discuss how to work together to create opportunities for more resilient food systems in the face of volatility. This summit will include keynote addresses, panel discussions, and roundtables with names such as Christine Tacon CBE and speakers from the European Commission, the SAI Platform, COPA-COGECA, FoodDrinkEurope, IFOAM, Euroseeds and many more. This exciting event takes place just days after the European elections, giving us the opportunity to discuss their likely impact quickly after the results are announced. Join us for this vital discussion: journalists are able to attend for free.

Extreme weather events, logistical bottlenecks, high energy costs, inflation, uncertainty over certain fertiliser supplies and raw materials are all shaping the agrifood landscape rapidly: but biostimulants offer a solution. They can support our growers and help them produce enough to feed our population more sustainably. At the summit, industry leaders will discuss how to help growers make sense of the information available to them, how to better disseminate it, and how to secure the future of food production against a backdrop of both geopolitical and climate turbulence.

During the Summit, EBIC will launch its new Manifesto, which urges the European Commission to acknowledge the role of biostimulants in building a competitive and sustainable agri-food system in Europe. It asks them to support growers and expand their toolboxes, ensuring agri-food technology reaches and is available to them at a granular level, improving their livelihoods and securing the future of food production.

Agenda

9:30-10:15 – Opening session, with President and Vice President’s welcome and KEYNOTE speaker: Christine Tacon CBE, Chair of Red Tractor and the UK’s first Groceries Code Adjudicator.
10:15-11:20 – SESSION 1: Ensuring food security and quality in times of turbulence. Session 1 address on “Ensuring food security and quality in times of turbulence: Where farmer and food chain interests meet” by Katharine Teague, Vice President of the Sustainable Agricultural Initiative Platform and Head of Advocacy at ABF Sugar. Session 1 panel on “Working towards the common cause of robust agricultural and food supply chains”, moderated by Natasha Foote, independent Agri-Food Journalist. Featuring: Bill Wirtz, Senior Policy Analyst, Consumer Choice Center; Will Surman, Deputy Director General, FoodDrinkEurope; Marc Billiet, Senior Adviser for Goods Transport, International Road Transport Union (IRU); Patrick Pagani, Deputy Secretary General, COPA-COGECA; and Antonis Angeletakis, Co-Chair of EBIC’s Mid-Term Strategy Group.
11:20-12:15 – PRESENTATION OF THE EBIC MANIFESTO with concrete examples of plant biostimulants in action.
12:50-15:15 – SESSION 2: Supporting farmers in times of turbulence.

Session 2 details

Parallel Session 2 roundtable one: “Managing risk from climate”, moderated by Chris Hegadorn, Adjunct Professor in Global Food Politics, Science Po University. Featuring: Pascal Forrer, President of AIAG (Crop Insurers Association) and former CEO of Schweizer Hagel; Ana Rocha, Director of EU’s Agri & forestry Related Policies at the European Landowners’ Organisation; Moshi Berenstein, European Irrigation Association (EIA), President & Managing Director of Netafim France; César González, Manager Public Affairs at Euroseeds; and Mark Palmer, Co-Leader of EBICs Agronomy Project Team.
Parallel Session 2 roundtable two: “Working together to enable farmers as agile entrepreneurs”, moderated by Natasha Foote, independent Agri-Food Journalist. Featuring: Eduardo Cuoco, Director of IFOAM Organics Europe; Louis Gauthier, Co-managing Director & co-owner, Doriane (data valorisation for ag) and board member of ABBA France; Glauco Bertoldo, Agricultural Attaché at the Mission of Brazil to the European Union; and Deirdre Wall, EBIC Member.

Session 2 address: “Helping the next generation of farmers thrive despite volatility,” European Young Farmers (CEJA), Speaker TBC.

Closing stakeholder dialogue: “Better cooperation to support farmers in times of turbulence.” Moderated by Natasha Foote, independent Agri-Food Journalist. Featuring: European Young Farmers (CEJA), Representative TBC; Fabien Santini, Acting Head of Unit, Governance of the agri-food markets and secretariat of the European Food Security Crisis preparedness and response mechanism (EFSCM) at DG AGRI, European Commission; Jelte Wiersma, Secretary General of CEMA (European Agricultural Machinery Association); and Marco Rosso, Working Member of EBIC’s Farm-to-Fork Project Team.

Journalists are welcome to join free-of-charge, but please register at: https://ebic.idloom.events/ebic-high-level-summit-food-security-sustainability-stakeholders

European Biostimulants Industry Council (EBIC)

EBIC’s mission is to ensure biostimulant technologies are valued as integral to sustainable agriculture while securing an enabling regulatory framework for all of them. As the representative organisation for the biostimulants industry in Europe covering most players in the EU biostimulants market with more than 60 active full members – ranging from dozens of SMEs to multinationals – EBIC embodies the voice of the biostimulants industry in Europe.

Find out more on www.biostimulants.eu or by contacting jessica@prospero.ag

Information for Journalists wishing to attend

Sparks is about 170 metres, just a two-minute walk, from Brussels Central station. Exit Brussels Central Station onto Cantersteen, take the left on Cantersteen up to the traffic signals, cross over to the right, and take Rue Ravenstein and you are at Sparks on the right approximately 50 metres from the traffic lights. The closest carpark is Interparking Albertine.