India’s premier biennial agro technology and business fair – the CII Agro Tech 2014, featured five international conferences, country specific sessions by participants from Africa, Germany and Pakistan, farmer and industry delegation visits from China, Canada, New Zealand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and exhibitors from 11 countries and 15 Indian states.
About – CII Agro Tech 2014
Agro Tech, since its inception in 1994 has been CII’s flagship agri event. Under eminent leadership, each edition of this show has grown exponentially. Agro Tech works as an ideal interaction platform between the Farm Producers and the Agro Industry. By creating linkages for value creation and value addition, the exhibition offers varied business opportunities to the technology holders as well as practical learning to the technology users. The fair is the umbrella brand for several focused concurrent shows that have evolved with changing situations; the main being agri inputs, farm machinery, food processing & management, livestock, farmer services etc.
The conference was hosted to address the issues relating to food and agriculture businesses like: Processed Food, Food Service and Retail, Primary Processing, Building effective agri infrastructure and strong supply chain logistics and Investment Opportunities And Challenges in the Food & Agri (F&A) Value Chain in India. A few details are mentioned below.
- The food & agribusiness sector in India presents an attractive investment opportunity with the country’s vast consumer base, that continues to grow, and its strong food production base. From an investment perspective, the key challenge is to identify the ‘hidden gems’ in the F&A sector that are aligned to global best practices and have a differentiated business model to achieve the desired returns
- Many of the conventional sub-sectors within primary processing are increasingly integrating with the global market (edible oils, sugar, pulses, wheat, animal feed etc). In addition, there is an increasing interest of large global players to enter this space in India vide tie-ups with/acquisition of local players (basmati rice, dairy). In addition, some Indian players are expanding overseas to strengthen their access to raw material such as in case of edible oils and sugar.
- Agri infrastructure is key to reducing wastages/value loss and enhancing food availability. There is a significant opportunity unfolding in back end aggregation as well as storage infrastructure and logistics. Consistent innovation that works in the Indian environment will be the critical driver of the efficiency and effectiveness of food supply chains in India.
Most sub-segments within branded packaged foods are growing in double digits on the back of favorable demographics, increasing disposable incomes, increasing urbanization, changing lifestyles etc. The consumption growth story is here to stay and may even accelerate with the increasing aspirations of the Indian middle-class.
Detail:
CII Event was held at at Hotel Shivalik View & CII NR Headquarters, Sector 31 A on 24th November 2014.
- The Fair will comprise nine concurrent International shows viz – Good Earth (Expo on Agri Inputs & Farming Technologies), Food Expo (Expo on Processed & Packaged Foods), Food Tech (Expo on Logistics & Packaging Technologies), Farm Services (Expo on Agri Commerce & Technology), Livestock (Expo on Livestock Management), International Pavilion and Implementex (Expo on Agri & Farm Implement.
- The CII Agro Tech 2014 will also feature International Conferences on Horticulture Value Chain, Animal Husbandry, Innovations in Agriculture, World View of India as a Food Basket and Food Processing, Storage & Distribution; and Country specific Session on ‘Business Opportunities in Africa’.
- Special ‘Kisan Goshthees’, including sessions in areas like protected agriculture & precision farming, climate change, water & soil management, use of solar energy for agriculture, organic farming and reducing pesticide usage, Agro processing & marketing, optimum use of Agri inputs, farm mechanization etc.
- Featuring over 200 new product launches, the CII Agro Tech 2014 will have participation of 36 overseas companies from countries including Canada, Italy, Israel, Germany, Spain, France, Poland, South Africa, The Netherlands and Russia. Also expected is participation by industry delegation from The Gambia and New Zealand.
- Participation of more than 50000 farmers from major agricultural states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; along with Farmer delegation from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.
Challenges:
- To invite media for all 6 days.
- To ensure media attends each session for consecutive 6 days.
- To get all the sessions covered in the print publications was also a challenge.
- Due to lack of technology everything had to be consolidated in hand-written format.
- To manage multiple regional media persons on-ground
PR Strategy:
PR Tool used: On-ground media activation
- We invite media to attend all sessions organized by CII for all 6 days
- Each session was uniquely covered by media persons and there was a great visual spread in the Print publications.
- Highlight of the event was that media was keenly interested in knowing more about the event as the event preceded in the days.
Result:
The event was successfully covered by media both on-ground and post the event
- The event was well covered by all media persons who attended the event in the print regional newspapers.
- The news via press release was carried in almost all regional CAT A newspapers in the state.
- Looking at the output of this event we also got an opportunity to service Parle Agro in the next year and manage their crisis communications