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Canadian ag companies visit Europe’s largest agritech trade show
November 29, 2019 By Top Crop Manager
Pictured Above, from Left to Right: John van Lierop (SunovaWorX), Nic Murray (SunovaWorX), Chris Hubberstey (DryerMaster), Darren Campbell (SunovaWorX), Zeeshan Ashraf (AUG Signals), Jake Kraayenbrink (AgriBrink), Jasmin Hofer (Energrow), Cody van Lierop (SunovaWorX), Dr. John Kelly (Bioenterprise), Jordanna Kalis (SoilOptix), Paul Raymer (SoilOptix), Bill Menkveld (Greentronics). Not Pictured: Marlon Wauchope (Nexus Robotics). Photo courtesy of Bioenterprise. A delegation of eight Canadian companies, led by Bioenterprise Corporation, attended the Agritechnica tradeshow in Hanover, Germany from Nov. 10 to 16, 2019. The delegation was made up of companies of various sizes looking to explore opportunities overseas.
Companies participating in this mission included SoilOptix, AgriBrink, SunovaWorX, Energrow, Greentronics, Nexus Robotics, Dryer Master, and AUG Signals, who all received support for the costs of travel and registration alongside business-to-business (B2B) matchmaking provided by Bioenterprise. The mission included five days of business development and matchmaking activities on-site at the large-scale event.
The delegation was supported by Global Affairs Canada through their CanExport program, and was focused on creating business connections in the European market that would showoff Canada’s businesses on a global stage and provide new market opportunities overseas. This Bioenterprise-Agritechnica mission is one of several being delivered through the CanExport program, with additional markets being explored in early 2020. These overseas missions come at a time when Canadian trade relationships are stressed and there is a push to explore alternative markets.
Agritechnica is the one of the world’s leading trade fairs for agricultural technology, with 2,800 exhibitors representing 52 countries interacting with more than 450,000 visitors over the span of the event.
Chris Hubberstey, director of marketing for Kitchener-based Dryer Master, found that Agritechnica provided an opportunity to connect with current customers, seek out new clients and understand the position of competitors better. “Because of the support we received from Bioenterprise and Global Affairs Canada, we were able to solidify our relationships with our current European customers, which is extremely important. The face to face interaction allows us to gain insight into their needs, and to provide them with the needed confidence and trust in our offerings,” Hubberstey says.
“While full results are still coming in, it’s clear that the impact of the event goes well beyond the five days in Hanover,” Bioenterprise wrote in a release.
Bioenterprise Corporation is Guelph, Ont.-based agri-tech accelerator that helps to provide companies with business services, funding opportunities and various kinds of entrepreneurship support.
