*KU: Kasetsart University (Thailand), FFTC: Food and Fertilizer Technology Center for the Asian and Pacific Region
The international symposium "Smart Food Value Chain - The Solution to Asia's Food Distribution" was held on 29th October, 2020, jointly organized by NARO, KU and FFTC.
The symposium aims to review the distribution of agricultural products in Asia and to hold discussions on the adoption of Smart technologies in its food value chain. It is comprised of three sessions: I. Smart Food Production, II. Smart Food Processing and Distribution, and III. Consumer Preference, Smart Food marketing and International Standardization. This online symposium featured 17 presenters from 9 countries, and 305 participants took part from 19 countries around the world.
Three representatives of the organizers, Mr. Sornprach, Vice Dean of KU, Dr. KYUMA, President of NARO and Dr. Chang, Director of FFTC, gave their opening remarks and welcome addresses, followed by the two keynote speeches, "The Smart Food Value Chain of the Future" and Personalized Nutrition and Behavioral Impact" by scientists from Wageningen University and Research, the Netherlands.
In Session I, moderated by Dr. Takashi NAKAJIMA (NARO), five scientists from NARO, KU, TARI (Taiwan), and IPB University (Indonesia) talked about Smart production technologies. They concluded that the greatest impediments to dissemination of growth prediction systems for just-in-time shipment of vegetables are the high cost of machinery and communications equipment.
In Session II, moderated by Dr. Sasitorn Tongchitpakdee (KU), scientists from NARO, KU, and PCAARRD (Philippines) gave four presentations on smart food processing and distribution. The discussions that followed covered the applicability of the fresh vegetable and fruit transportation technology developed by NARO, the trend toward standardization of functional foods in South Asia, and the reconstruction of the food supply system after COVID-19 in the Philippines.
In Session III, moderated by Dr. Ray-Yu Yang (FFTC), five scientists from VAAS (Vietnam), KU, NARO, KREI (Korea) and MARDI (Malaysia) gave presentations that focused on the end-use and consumption stage. Specific methods and public-private collaborations regarding JAS certification and food and shelf labeling that attract consumer interest through behavioral economics like "Nudge," etc. were then discussed.
The presentation slides and proceeding will be published on the FFTC web site (below). https://www.fftc.org.tw/ (top).
