It was celebration time for ANID not only was the Italian trade association celebrating its 20th anniversary but this event was marked by a record breaking Disinfestando exhibition and supporting seminar programme held at the Palacongressi di Rimini, Italy on 8 & 9 March 2017.
| A warm welcome The weather, two sunny spring days, set the tone for the warm and welcoming reception for all those who arrived to attend what is the Associazione Nazionale della Imprese di Disinfestestazione’s (ANID) fifth exhibition and conference. The Palacongressi di Rimini is light, modern and airy, with plenty of places to sit and hold meetings whilst enjoying suitable refreshments. The event was certainly popular with very nearly 1,900 registered delegates – the vast majority of whom were Italian practical pest controllers.
Although there were more international delegates than seen at previous Disinfestando events, it is always an encouraging sight to witness that the bulk of the exhibition visitors came from their home market. This certainly pleased all the exhibitors who recorded two very busy days talking to their customers. Likewise the exhibitors predominantly came from Italy too. In total there were 48 exhibitors. If the multinationals such as Syngenta, BASF and Bayer are discounted, there were only six non-Italian exhibitors and these were all European – from the UK, Spain, France and Hungary. |
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The exhibition was busy throughout the two full days, largely with Italian pest controllers
It was hard to miss that a pest control event was going on withinCommenting on the number of delegates, Sergio Urizio, ANID’s CEO, said: “Of the European events, we feel that Parasitec, when held in Paris, attracts the largest number of visitors, followed by ourselves and then PestEx.” With PestEx just around the corner let’s see if it can beat the Disinfestando record with 2,000 visitors?
| Family businesses Another unique feature of this Italian event is that not only are the majority of exhibitors Italian, but a very large number of these are privately owned family businesses that have been trading for many years. Good examples are Bleu Line/BL Group, INDIA, Colkim, GEA, OSD, Martignani ,Vebi and Zapi to name just some. Petticoat power! |
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The official opening party, left to right: Licia Rosetti Betti (ANID), Valentina Masotti (Colkim), Daniela Pedrazzi (OSD Gruppo Ecotech), Marco Benedetti (ANID President), Debora Cazzaro (INDIA), Gloria Padovani (Bleu Line/BL Group) and Rita Nicoli (ANID)This ‘family business approach’ is also mirrored in the servicing company membership of ANID. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, total membership now runs to around 300 – a somewhat greater number than the initial 40 members on day one.
In contrast to the Italian focus of the exhibition, the seminar programme on 8 March took a much wider European view. Simultaneous translation from Italian into English and English into Italian was available for the first time at this event. The central topic under discussion was European regulation and, in particular, the use of ‘permanent’ baiting with rodenticides with contributions form Germany, Spain, Norway and the UK, as well as from Italian speakers.
From a global perspective Ms Xiao Yun Huang, president of the Asia Pacific Pest Management Association, FAOPMA and director of the Chinese Pest Management Association outlined the plans for the first global pest awareness day designed to raise the status of the pest management industry amongst the general public which will be held on 6 June 2017.
| ANID celebrates 20 years At a special celebratory event held on the middle evening, commemorative certificates were presented to those companies who joined at the very start. These amounted to 40 companies. To this day, of these 40, a total of 30 are, amazingly, still members. The majority of those lost have been subject to acquisitions over the years. It is now often the second generation of family managing these companies, but it is this family approach which undoubtedly leads to the warm and friendly atmosphere at these events. All credit should go to Sergio Urizio who had led ANID since its inception – but Sergio is far too modest to claim the limelight, as he puts the success down to the team of people who have worked alongside him throughout. |
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Pest editors, Frances McKim (left) and Helen Riby present Sergio Urizio with a special cover of Pest to celebrate ANID’s 20 years 
Representaives from the founder members of ANID gather to celebrate 20 years of success and growth
