Top speakers at cold chain conference

UK: Leaders from the supermarket sector and food manufacturing will speak at the 3rd IIR International Conference on Sustainability and the Cold Chain in June.

The event at St Mary’s University Twickenham from June 23-25 is expected to attract an international audience of researchers and industrialists and provide an opportunity to showcase new technological developments.

The conference programme will feature two key note addresses. Richard Royal of Walmart will discuss the role of supermarkets in managing the cold chain and Paul Homsy of Nestle, representing the Consumer Goods Forum, will take an overview of sustainability as it relates to food production and ask “What makes food manufacturing sustainable?” There will also be a series of short course covering topics such as novel preservation technologies, the Retail Roadmap and sustainable heating and cooling, as well as technical tours, networking receptions and a conference dinner.

The two major themes that running in parallel will be:

The Cold Chain bringing together those with an interest in the cold chain, covering food, pharmaceuticals and other applications to explore the latest developments and key trends in technology.  The conference will be supported by relevant IIR commissions who lead developments internationally.

Sustainability in Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pumps will focus on environmental issues and innovation. Topics will include the integration of heating and cooling, refrigeration containment, renewable energy in the cold chain, sustainability in the cold chain and carbon foot-printing.

Over 110 abstracts have been received indicating a high level of interest and the organiser is expecting to attract up to 150 delegates.

“The event has received overwhelming interest from the sector and we have been inundated with top quality research papers relating to both themes,” says Judith Evans, chairman of the conference planning group.

“We are delighted to announce that the award of a prize, donated by Sabroe, for the best student paper in each theme has really encouraged young researchers to engage with the conference and we are looking forward to giving them a platform to publish and present their work,”  she added.

Attending the event will cost £590 including two nights accommodation for the full two day programme including a half days pre-registration event.

Sponsorship packages for companies are available starting at £600.

For full details and to register your interest visit www.iccc2014.com