2014 – Rome

21st – 25th September 2014

The 2014 IFEAT conference was held at the wonderful Rome Cavalieri Hotel overviewing the city of Rome. The theme for the conference was “The Mediterranean” reflecting the Mediterranean influence on our flavour and fragrance industries. The programme covered a variety of themes such as market trends in the Mediterranean region, legislative and regulatory issues, as well as social and technical developments, including a very interesting session on biotech developments. It was the largest ever IFEAT Conference.

In total, 1062 delegates attended along with 121 accompanying persons and 68 day registrants coming from 51 countries. The conference provided, once again, a unique opportunity for delegates to meet face-to-face with their existing trading partners and friends as well as meet up with potential new suppliers and companies. The IFEAT Conference confirms once more to be the number one communication platform for the global flavor and fragrance industry.

The Chairman of the Rome Conference Committee, Antonella Corleone, opened the conference on the Mondaymorning, welcoming all delegates and chairing a session on “Essential oils in the Mediterranean Region”. This highlighted the strong historical and cultural links between the countries that surround the Mediterranean Sea and the essential oil industry, in particular relating to products derived from lavender, lavandin and citrus fruits.

The first session on the Tuesday covered “Technical and Social Developments in Essential Oils”. Presentations covered the latest findings with regard to pesticide residues in essential oils as well as purification of flavour oils through the use of designed polymers and a presentation on the IFEAT socio-economic study on the Calabrian bergamot industry. This was followed by the IFEAT business meeting, including the AGM and the IFEAT Medal Lecture which was a very detailed presentation on new analytical techniques for determining the authenticity of citrus oils by Professor Luigi Mondello. The final session of that day looked at the essential oil industry in regions where political tensions and social upheaval have taken place in recent years; North Africa and Eastern Europe.

For the third time IFEAT hosted a Trade Exhibition on the Wednesday. A record number of 850 visitors confirmed that this rather new feature is very well accepted and has proved to be a perfect add-on to the Conference. There were also two technical workshops; a “Flavour Workshop” presented by John Wright and a “Chiral Short Course” presented by Paula Dugo. Attendees welcomed the opportunity to discuss these subjects in more detail with world experts in their fields.

Resumption of conference proceedings on the Thursday included three well-attended sessions covering the essential oils industry in the Balkans, the issue of biodiversity for fragrance and flavour houses and the ever-important issue of regulatory and legislative issues that affect the essential oils industry. The week in Rome concluded on Thursday with a sophisticated Closing Banquet at the Villa Miani, attended by 718 persons, enjoying the food, drink, music and spectacular fireworks….. with the promise to meet again in Sri Lanka next year.

Spectacular evening functions

While the formal programme was intense, the important social character of IFEAT conferences was not neglected in Rome, by means of the special evening functions. Both the IFEAT Dinner on Tuesday, attended by 500 people, and the Closing Conference Banquet on Thursday evening were very enjoyable.

Two excellent venues were chosen for these events:

The IFEAT Dinner on Tuesday was hosted in the Villa Giulia, where the Museo Nazionale Etrusco is located. Guests enjoyed an Italian dinner surrounded by historical columns, gigantic pines and beautiful gardens. The evening was livened up by very typical Italian style entertainment, with opera singers, harpists and Italian famous film projections, creating a very relaxing and elegant atmosphere.

The Closing Conference Dinner on Thursday evening was held in the Villa Miani, an elegant neoclassical building surrounded by a beautifully kept garden offering unique and spectacular views over Rome. Some wonderful entertainment and the spectacular fireworks have surely left the delegates with a unique souvenir of the eternal city.