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On behalf of the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), the Università degli Studi di Torino is pleased to announce the 2^nd ISHS International Conference on Quality Management of Fresh Cut Produce. The Freshcut2011 Conference is addressed to scientists, professionals and business representatives with an interest in Fresh-Cut Produce.

Fresh-cut fruit and vegetables represent an important and rapidly expanding food segment of interest for growers, processors, retailers and consumers and in recent years, despite the consumer demand for fruit and vegetables decreased, the convenience food sector reported a constant growth in terms of quantity and turnover. Today, the fresh-cut industry is expanding faster than any other segment of the fruit and vegetable market and the fresh-cut segment supplies both the food service industry and the retail outlets, expanding to new markets around the world. Italy is one of the key players in this industry not only in Europe and its level of offer and quality is getting widely recognized. Issues on genetic material, genomics, biotechnology, production, handling, storage, shipping, processing, sanitation, automation, tracking systems including new advanced technologies, retailers, consumer demand, regulations, economics will be presented and debated in both scientific and business sessions.

Freshcut2011 is much more than a meeting for scientists since it will involve diverse sectors that contribute for the dynamism of fresh-cut industry. A specific Business Committee is created to promote and develop cooperation and synergy, connecting research and the fresh-cut industry.

The Conference is organized under the aegis of the ISHS, which has a network that reaches 7,000+ society members and many other scientists and professionals worldwide. The ISHS Web site is among the 100,000 most visited sites, receiving more than 28,000 visits per day. The Conference proceedings will be published in Acta Horticulturae, the pillar of scientific and technical literature in horticulture that is also available online.

We expect to bring together participants from all continents, rallying together research and business, young researchers and established scientists, industrial processors and suppliers, horticultural producers and supply chain actors. Governmental and institutional participation is also expected. Keynote distinguished speakers will be invited along with industry leaders.

Your possible financial contribution will help to defray part of the costs related to hosting the conference and will offer to your company the association with a renowned world conference and the interaction with numerous international specialists. The attached visibility plan describes the various sponsorship options and the visibility associated with each sponsoring class. In addition, we will be pleased to discuss other sponsorship options of Freshcut2011 events, such as oral scientific sessions, poster scientific sessions, workshops, tours, welcome reception, gala dinner, coffee breaks.