Blackcurrant & Cassis International Conference

Click here to view the full photo album from conference.

Click here copies of the presentations at conference.

Hi all: it was a world first and thanks to the delegates, presenters and sponsors, it was world class! The inaugural world conference resulted in the formation of an exciting new organisation: Blackcurrant & Cassis International. That happened because of the passion and vision of the world industry: and the positive atmosphere that all delegates created in all the events of the Conference itself.

We captured hundreds of photos over the four days of the event: and we've put a collection of them on our website Conference gallery. Enjoy browsing across them and remembering the activities.

We were going to write a caption for each photo: but I think they speak for themselves: and if it's you in the image, you know what was happening. (If you want a copy of an image for your own purpose, email us at info@blackcurrant.co.nz and we'll send to you.)

Over the next few months stories about the Conference will be appearing in various media: as they do, Ian Turk from Blackcurrants NZ will add them to this website: so check it out from time to time AND if something interesting and exciting about Blackcurrants (aka 'cassis' for you Francophiles) happens in your part of the world: please send it to me and we can add it to the website.

But a quick stroll down 'memory lane' to recap the watershed event: Tuesday night was cocktails and canapes and 160 people meeting, some as old friends but many for the first time: the atmosphere was relaxed and I was amazed at how friendly everyone was! A superb start to the week.

Wednesday morning set the scene with Phil Hyatt, chairman of the NZ industry group welcoming us all and then Leone Evans from NZ Trade & Enterprise giving a vision for a cooperative model for us to use to grow global demand for our amazing berry!

Four Leaf CEO Genjiro Katayama gave a personal insight into just what 'amazing' meant when he related the health values of the blackcurrant to his own family and then Michael Dunsire gave a glimpse of a very exciting future being created by our global industry brand champion, GSK-Ribena.

Between these speakers we had vision passion and commitment tabled as an inspiration for all! Svend's Country Round Up put the world industry into perspective and as delegates tabled their own country we could see a global trend emerging: that producer groups in various countries were starting to understand that, together, we needed to think of marketing and not just production: that we could create a better future by working together.

Jim took that feedback from country delegates and suggested a structure and a purpose to think about during the Conference. And then the scientists tabled the results of their work and their visions: and it was stunning.

We watched as Dr Takanori Tsuda, Dr Hitoshi Matsumoto, Dr Abdul Molan and Dr Roger Hurst showed the incredible health values latent in the blackcurrant and many of us started wondering why it wasn't already the most sought after food on earth.

But Professor Marina Heinonen's presentation that presaged the science papers was a very timely warning that regulatory authorities don't always make it easy for the truth to be communicated to people: and despite the wonderful health values, the blackcurrant industry could lose be default: if the scientifically valid health values aren't allowed to be sold to the consumer!

This was a very important mesage for the industry as we place more and more value on the growing evidence of blackcurrant health benefits, as we will need to work within the requirements of regulatory authorities - or be in a position to lobby when change is likely.

Marina's travel to NZ was sponsored by AGMARDT. The conference committee is very grateful for this support which allowed for the inclusion of an important marketing message into the agenda.

Dr Yoshitaka Miyanaga gave a wonderful insight into the amazing success story that has been created by the Japan Cassis Association in their own country. As a result of the Japan Cassis Association's work 93% of all Japanese know about Blackcurrants and that they're good for health!

After an afternoon of sometimes daunting although exciting data we all enjoyed the walk through Christchurch to the city casino for a delightful dinner courtesy of the GSK team! (Not sure if anyone became a millionaire in the gaming rooms after but I personally lost the equivalent of 4kg of prime IQF fruit at farm-gate price on the slots so wasn't too painful!)

Thursday morning and it was the turn of the marketers: Greg Quinn's story of the rise and rise of his icon-in-the making CurrantC was a revelation. Ron Cuthbert then gave an overview of the world of commodities and lessons to be learned for the blackcurrant industry. Julian Mellentin's presentation was especially relevant and hard-hitting as he stressed the need for us to have our own positioning platform: and the need to create innovations that delivered our health functions in highly convenient product forms.

Sarah Calcutt continued this theme of the need for a single simple message that encapsulated the science. Her insights into the various healthy foods campaigns in the UK flagged both opportunities and warnings for our own group. And then Jarrow Morrow pulled no punches as he showed us the threats and opportunities created by the regulators and the drug companies.

But he also showed leading edge examples of walking the talk with his new generation blackcurrant-based consumer products. One of his quotes was superb: "don't sell the steak, but don't just sell the sizzle: sell steak that sizzles!"

I then showed the way the NZ industry had developed its own grower/marketer promotional model and how it could be relevant as a world model.

And suddenly we were out in the bright sunshine and off to the Stephens farm for lunch on the lawn followed by a "round robin" of workshops: world class agronomics being shared between growers. As a marketer I couldn't relate to some of the issues vital to growers' wellbeing: but I found the idea of dusting honeybees to deliver essential spray programmes to the crop at key times delightfully seductive!

And after another bus ride we arrived at the Read's Lyncross farm for a truly eclectic mix of fun food and entertainment! The farm machinery display was a perfect backdrop to the first chilled beers and wines of the day, followed by a great casual BBQ, and then the entertainment took off: whip cracking pruning (not sure its economically viable for a 10-acre block but fun to watch!) followed by kiwi sheep shearing and bloke games and then some great live rock music and dancing.

The Reads created a wonderful atmosphere and a real slice of 'kiwiana' lifestyle for our international delegates. It was a night when we all realised we enjoyed each others company and had the potential to enjoy working together to create our own future.

Friday morning the Conference split into country groupings. The idea was that, after a week of working and mixing together, what were the common concerns and the exciting potentials. The key results of the country strategy sessions were:

Industry needs a common focal point for collating and promoting sound research information; especially if regulatory authorities continued to try and suppress information important to consumers.
The global industry needed a common promotional platform that gave focus to researchers, product development teams and marketers.
Each country should implement positive promotional tactics within its own borders as part of a synergistic collective strategy.

The strategy session then agreed on a name for a new global organisation, a phrase that summed up the industry and its harvest, and the organisation's vision. And suddenly it was finished: the newly elected New Zealand Minister for Agriculture, Hon David Carter, closed the Conference, wishing the world industry well and some very well deserved presentations were made to industry leaders and conference staff.

If I summarised the general feedback from all I spoke with: Conference was a major moment in the world blackcurrant industry and the time is right to work together and make things happen to benefit all! And what is next? The Steering Committee is developing a set of interim tactics to maintain the momentum until the Conference in Copenhagen in June this year.

Some thoughts:

Having the most wonderfully healthy food in the world doesn't of itself make for commercial success: we lose by default if we aren't proactive ourselves.
The trend within regulatory authorities (eg EFSA) is a threat to promoting healthful values in Blackcurrant even though the science is compelling and the values based on truthful research!
Our new organisation can overcome both these issues through the no-borders-low cost of using e-communications within industry, with media and with consumers.

Look forward to working with you and being part of creating a very exciting and rewarding future.

Bill Floyd - Marketing & Strategy - Blackcurrant & Cassis Berries International.

(At Conference we agreed we needed both 'Blackcurrant' and 'Cassis' in the name. Unfortunately in some countries 'cassis' means the liqueur so perhaps an option is to refer to 'cassis berries': this is something the steering committee will discuss. And I think using the phrase 'cassis berries' adds a kind of culinary and wellness cachet that is very positive.)