IAOM
Eurasia District Convenes 3rd Meeting in Romania
The third annual
International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM) Eurasia District
conference and expo was held October 19-21, in Bucharest, Romania. With 250
registered participants from 27 countries, the meeting was twice the size of
the previous conference. The IAOM conference was
followed by an FFI Eurasia Leaders Group Meeting on October 22-23.
“We are pleased with the
increased numbers over last year,” stated IAOM President Royal Denning,
“however, we know that there are many millers in the region who may not be
familiar with IAOM and the benefits of belonging to our association. We will
continue to work on increasing IAOM’s visibility in Western and Central
Europe.”
Conference & Expo
The Expo hall was filled
with more than 40 leading equipment and service suppliers from around the
world. Conference attendees had the opportunity to meet with the exhibitors
over the two-day event.
Following the opening of the
exhibition, participants attended educational sessions. The sessions
included a presentation by Buhler on the evolution of milling, as well as an
update by U.S. Wheat Associates on the dynamics of the U.S. and world wheat
markets. GEOSYS gave an overview of crop monitoring – assessing the impact
of weather on crops in key grain-producing countries.
The Flour Fortification
Initiative (FFI) provided an overview of the Miller’s Toolkit and best
pre-mix practices. Conference Host Committee Chairman Viorel Marin took
advantage of the opportunity to discuss FFI activities in the region.
The
second day started with What’s New presentations by Agrex SpA, Agromatic,
Alapala, Chopin Technologies, Chronos Richardson, Foss Analytical, Perten
Instruments and the Satake Corporation.
The session that followed
included presentations by Eurogerm on the interest of inactive yeast as a
flour correcting agent; Kansas State University’s study of wheat tempering
and surfactants; and practical applications of the Mixolab by Arcada SRL
Galati.
The afternoon educational
session started with CMFT’s presentation on the importance of wheat
tempering. CETEC Cereal Technologies discussed flour hydration and the
importance of moisture control. Akzo Nobel reviewed the advantages of using
ferric sodium EDTA as an iron fortificant for wheat flour.
The Mixolab system was
covered in a separate presentation by Chopin Technologies. Muehlenchemie
followed with an overview of the need to fortify flour with iron, and a
discussion of the various types of iron available. A look at the key points
regarding mill energy, flow sheet analysis and mill control was provided by
Kansas State University in a second presentation. The educational sessions
ended with a presentation on Ocrim’s global customer services.
Future
Meetings
The District’s Leadership
Council met to discuss upcoming events. It selected Moscow, Russia, as the
site of next year’s conference and expo. The conference host committee will
be chaired by Vyacheslav Butkovsky, head of the International Industrial
Academy. Viorel
Marin, host of the 2008 conference in Romania, will serve as co-chairman of
the event in Moscow. The Council recommended that the conference be held in late
September or early October.
In addition, Denning said
the Leadership Council decided to hold a workshop at the 60th annual meeting
of the Association of Grain Industry Schools’ Graduates (AIMEC) next year in
Troyes, France. The workshop will be held on either October 15 or 16, 2009.
“AIMEC has a long-standing
history, and we look forward to participating in their conference next
year,” Denning said. “We will be able to introduce IAOM to a new audience of
milling professionals in both France and Russia in 2009.”
Special thanks to our partners and sponsors!
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