This year’s IAOM Eurasia District Conference was held in October at the Rin Grand Hotel in Bucharest, Romania.
More than 300 people from 27 countries attended the third annual International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM) Eurasia District Conference, Oct. 9-21, in Bucharest, Romania. The IAOM event included a trade show and technical conference and was followed by a two-day seminar on four fortifcation organized by the Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.-based Flour Fortifcation Initiative .
In addition to a large contingent from Romania, milling industry representatives came from many other countries in the egion including Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia, Armenia in the Caucasus, and Kosovo and Serbia in southeastern Europe. The trade show drew 45 exhibitors, a signifcant increase compared to the frst two Eurasia District meetings in Istanbul, Turkey and Almaty, Kazakhstan.
AOM President Royal Denning expressed his satisfaction with the larger numbers versus last year but added, “We know that there are many millers in the region who may note familiar with IAOM and the benefts of belonging to our association. We will continue to work on increasing IAOM’s
visibility in Western and Central Europe.”
In his conference-opening remarks, Denning stressed that IAOM, which is headquartered in Leawood, Kansas, U.S., should not supplant national milling associations but complement them by providing their members with access to global best practices, contacts to suppliers and networking opportunities worldwide.
Offcials from Romania’s Ministry of Agriculture and the President of the Romanian Chamber of Industries welcomed the attendees on behalf of government and industry. They pointed out that milling has attracted much private investment since economic liberalization began in the 1990s, and that Romania will beneft from European Union funding to develop agriculture and grain processing.
Educational sessions
The educational program ran the gamut from the use of satellite imagery for crop monitoring by GEOSYS to Chopin Technologies’ new Mixolab system for
dough analysis. Buhler opened the proram with a presentation on the evolution of milling technology. Frank Spalek of Agromatic discussed explosion risks
in wheat handling and storage and the se of sensors to comply with European ATEX regulations.
The second day included short “What’s New?” presentations by Agrex SpA, Alapala, Chronos Richardson, Foss Analytical, Perten Instruments and Satake Corporation.
In the longer sessions, Eurogerm proposed inactive yeast as a four correcting agent, and Kansas State University (KSU) presented a study on wheat tempering and surfactants. Akzo obel discussed the superior bioavailability of EDTA iron for fortifed four used in many foods. A second paper by KSU’s Jeff Gwirtz covered energy consumption in mills and practical steps for savings. Muehlenchemie reviewed the benefts of adding iron to four, and Quentin Johnson of the Flour Fortifcation Initiative introduced the Miller’s Tool Kit manual as a guide to millers in four fortifcation.
Future meetings
The District Leadership Council chose Moscow, Russia as the site of the 2009 IAOM Eurasia District Conference. The host organization will be the International Industrial Academy, a prestigious food industry institute that has trained leading millers in Russia and neighboring countries since Soviet Union era.
The Council also accepted an invitation to put on a workshop at the 60th annual meeting of the Association of Grain Industry Schools’ Graduates (AIMEC)
in October 2009 in Troyes, France. AIMEC has a long-standing history, and we look forward to participating in their conference next year,” Denning
said.
