WCO Conference at Fruit Attraction 2023

The WCO Secretariat organized a WCO Conference during Fruit Attraction in Madrid on Tuesday 3 October in the morning, right before the official launch of the fair. 

The Conference was followed by a meeting of WCO’s Global Marketing Working Group.

WCO Annual General Meeting 2023

The 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) was divided into three sessions. The first session focused on the Association’s statutory matters, including discussions on financial issues and the WCO’s Members Area launch.

The second session was dedicated to citrus market analysis, including the presentation of the southern hemisphere citrus forecast and market developments. The third session featured a guest speaker, Paco Borrás, who presented an integral citrus plan study carried out by the regional authorities in Valencia (Spain).

WCO Meeting at Fruit Logistica 2023

The 2023 WCO meeting at Fruit Logistica was a physical meeting, gathering WCO members from across the world to discuss pertinent issues for the citrus sector. The meeting provided the chance to network with fellow members.

The meeting agenda focused on citrus consumption trends and the evolving nature of consumer purchasing decisions.

WCO Global Marketing Concept Brainstorm, November 2022

As part of WCO’s 2022-2024 Strategy going forwards along with fostering a global citrus community and global citrus collaboration, it is envisaged to build a global identity for citrus to better position the category. This first online brainstorm meeting explored the potential of a WCO global marketing concept for citrus to be available and used by all WCO members. External guests from other international fruit product associations were invited to give snapshots on the work they have done on creating successful global marketing concepts. All interested members were invited to attend.

WCO Health & Nutrition Working Group, November 2022

On 9 November 2022 the WCO Health & Nutrition Working Group convened online to discuss areas of work to forward citrus health and nutrition. A proposal by CIRAD for a study on data tables on the nutritional composition and health benefits of world citrus was discussed, as well as the possibility of exploring WHO nutrition and health claims for citrus, and the re-starting of the WCO social media nutrition facts campaign. All interested members were invited to attend.

‘Get to know WCO’ Event at the IFPA Global Produce & Floral Show

The WCO hosted a ‘Get to know WCO’ event at the IFPA Global Produce & Floral Show in Orlando, Florida on 29 October 2022.

‘Get to know WCO’ was an open event for WCO members attending the IFPA Global Produce & Floral Show as well as for non-members who had an interest in the citrus business to learn about the WCO, its activities and vision for the global citrus sector.

The ‘Get to know WCO’ event was also an opportunity for WCO members to meet up and network with fellow members as well as with stakeholders in the wider citrus community in an informal setting for citrus knowledge and market development exchange.

The event programme consisted of the following:

• About WCO – Presentation on WCO and its activities (WCO Members Pro Citrus Network & ProCitrus Peru)
• WCO Strategy 2022-2024 – Presentation (WCO Members Pro Citrus Network & ProCitrus Peru)
• Q&A Session
• Open networking for citrus stakeholders

WCO Conference & Networking Event at Fruit Attraction 2022 

On 4 October 2022 the WCO Conference took place at Fruit Attraction. Open to WCO members and the wider citrus community, the Conference was an opportunity for the global sector to discuss pertinent sectorial issues. During the Conference the WCO Secretariat presented the WCO Strategy 2022-2024, which will direct the Organisation’s activities for the two-year mandate of the current WCO Co-Chairs Justin Chadwick and José Antonio Garcia Fernandez. The Conference launched a preview of the CIRAD Citrus Statistical Book, available to WCO members as part of the WCO membership. CIRAD is the Technical Secretariat of WCO. Guest speakers, Anders Lind from Coop Trading Denmark and Oscar Mozún from Tactics, also provided two detailed presentations to participants on positioning citrus in the current trading and retail environment and communicating citrus. The WCO Conference was well attended by over 40 high-level representatives from the global citrus sector as well as the European Commission. 

The WCO Conference was followed by a WCO Networking Event on the 4 October at Fruit Attraction. WCO members and citrus stakeholders were invited to the Limón de España stand hosted by Ailimpo to discuss citrus market developments and WCO matters in an informal setting. The event welcomed actors from across the global citrus supply chain.

WCO Citrus Technical Visit alongside Fruit Attraction 2022 

WCO members were given the opportunity to participate in a Citrus Technical Visit as part of the programme of events for WCO members at Fruit Attraction 2022. On the 3 October 2022 WCO members visited citrus operations in the Valencia region. The full day excursion departing from Madrid, comprised of a visit to Citrosol’s facilities, including their R&D laboratories, as well as a visit to a large grower to view Spanish production developments located outside of Valencia. The Technical Visit was open to all members and free of charge.   

WCO Annual General Meeting 2022 

On 1 June 2022 World Citrus Organisation (WCO) members gathered for the organisation’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). During the online AGM the WCO Secretariat presented the consolidation of the production and export forecasts for the forthcoming Southern Hemisphere citrus season 2022. This preliminary forecast is collected from member industry associations in Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, South Africa, and Uruguay.

Along with citrus market development updates, the meeting also saw the re-election of WCO’s current co-chairs for a second mandate. Both South Africa and Spain, represented by the Citrus Growers’ Association and Ailimpo, were re-elected to head the organisation for another two years. More information about the WCO AGM 2022 is available here.

WCO networking meeting at Fruit Logistica 2022

During Fruit Logistica 2022, the global fresh produce trade show in Berlin, WCO members present at the fair met for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in an informal networking meeting. 

The networking meeting was a long-awaited opportunity for WCO members to catch up and discuss the latest sector and market developments. WCO members were hosted by WCO member San Miguel. 

Global Citrus Congress 2021

On 16-17 November 2021 the World Citrus Organisation and CIRAD joined forces with Fruitnet Media International to organise the second edition of the Global Citrus Congress (GCC), a virtual event bringing together leading players from the global citrus industry to identify and assess common challenges and opportunities for the citrus sector.

The GCC took place in a new 24 hour format online with free access for all delegates. Following the success of its first edition in 2020 with over 1200 delegates from over 60 countries, the GCC explored the main citrus global trends of production, trade and consumption through a lively combination of talks, interviews and panel discussions. In addition, delegates were able to interact with each other through the Congress’ platform, as well as attend sessions tailored to European, American & Asian markets on specific timezones.