The four members of the expert jury are the director of the Dutch Potato Organization (NAO) Dick Hylkema, Dutch Top Sector Agri & Food chairman Dirk Duijzer, managing director of the Plant Sciences Group of WUR Ernst van den Ende and PotatoWorld magazine editor-in-chief Jaap Delleman. This constitution of the professional jury assures that the different links within the potato chain are represented. Van den Ende, who oversees the full Plant Sciences Group of Wageningen UR, looks at potato cultivation from an internationally oriented perspective, while the Top Sector's director Duijzer is involved in innovative projects in the agri-food sector. In his function at the NAO, Hylkema represents the interests of Dutch companies trading in seed and ware potatoes. Delleman completes the innovative and forward-looking jury, being an authority in the field of potato industry journalism and providing an international outside view on the sector.
Last year, the organisor of PotatoEurope Netherlands already announced that a new edition of the Innovation Award would take place. The competition is only open to companies who are exhibiting at PotatoEurope 2021. In view of the theme of the event, “What's Now, What's New and What's the Future”, which in itself refers to the inventiveness of the progressive potato sector, the exhibition is an excellent opportunity to identify innovations bringing future-oriented solutions to the entire potato industry chain. The professional jury will select the three companies which, in their opinion, offer the most innovative product or service, after which the audience will also be able to cast their vote to nominate one participating company for the Audience Award. Eventually, next to the Audience Award, a total of three Innovation Awards will be presented by the professional jury: Gold, Silver and Bronze. The winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, September 1, at 10:30 AM at the conference area of the exhibition.
The large number of companies that have already booked their space at PotatoEurope 2021, shows how much the international potato industry is looking forward to taking part in a face-to-face event again. “Familiar elements of the fair, such as live demonstrations, field trials and the Innovation Award, attract a lot of attention during every edition, and this year is no exception. Since we opened the preregistration and later on also opened registration for new exhibitors, a large number of companies from the Netherlands and abroad has already reserved or booked their space. The entire potato industry chain will be represented and not just recurring, but also new exhibitors find their way to PotatoEurope 2021. In addition, we can disclose that some parts of the exhibition, including Hall A, Hall B and the trial fields, are already fully booked. This indicates that many people in the potato industry have a clear need for in-person meetings”, said Kuno Jacobs of organiser DLG Benelux.
PotatoEurope is an international event exclusively dedicated to the entire potato industry chain. The event takes place each year, in one of the event's four partner countries: Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands. On September 1 and 2, 2021, the organisation expects to welcome more than 275 exhibitors and over 16.000 visitors.
Official conditions for participation in the PotatoEurope 2021 Innovation Award can be found here: potatoeurope.nl/innovationaward
