Wanted: Forward-Looking Concepts!- ECOCARE 2010: International Award for Commitment to Sustainability in Retail, Industry and Service

Presented for the fist time on the occasion of InterMopro, InterCool and InterMeat in September 2010

From 12 to 15 September 2010 the three international trade fairs InterMopro (dairy products), InterCool (frozen food, ice cream, technology) and InterMeat (meat and processed meat) will be held in Düsseldorf.

This will also be the first time for trade magazine “Lebensmittel Praxis” and Messe Düsseldorf to honour the commitment of retail, industry and service providers for sustainability. In spring 2010 international food and non-food-producers, food retail and service providers can compete for the new “ECOCARE 2010” award. Wanted: the most convincing sustainability concepts in the three categories: product, project and technology.

Commenting on the Award Wilhelm Niedergöker, Managing Director at Messe Düsseldorf, said: “With this award initiated by the “Lebensmittel Praxis“ journal and ourselves we wish to show our recognition for exemplary achievements in an area that is very close to retailers’ and our hearts. The ECOCARE Award is a perfect fit for our food trade fairs as next year they will come under the joint motto Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility.” InterMopro, InterCool and InterMeat 2010 will dedicate a separate Special Show to this topic entitled “Tomorrow's Fresh World!“ In cooperation with partners from retail and industry sustainably manufactured products will be presented and such topics as sustainable temperature-controlled logistics, sustainable packaging and energy-efficient refrigeration equipment will be in focus.

Over the past few years the sustainability theme has developed into a key competition factor for the sector. The ECOCARE 2010 Award is designed to provide enterprises that have made an active contribution to environmental and climate protection in one of the three categories and/or are socially committed, with a tool to stand out from their competitors. This is because the winner and the two runners up can leverage their awards for corporate communication purposes.

“The presentation of the ECOCARE Award will stress the sustainability theme and raise public awareness. It will give both retail and industry an extra incentive to come up with a well-researched response to future market requirements and the chance to cash in on this as a USP for creating more added value,” says Dr. Axel Kölle, in charge of the scientific section in the jury of experts.

ECOCARE encompasses the three criteria of sustainability: ecology and economy as well as social responsibility. Based on these three principles entrants’ commitment to sustainability will be examined along the entire supply chain and assessed by a jury composed of the following experts: Marion Sollbach (Head of Sustainability and Environment Department at the Metro Group), Dr. Daniela Büchel (Head of Corporate Marketing/ Sustainability at the Rewe Group), Uwe Bergmann (Head of Sustainability/CSR Management at Henkel AG & Co. KGaA), Silke Trösch (Director Corporate & Government Affairs, Kraft Foods Deutschland) and Dr. Axel Kölle (Head of ZNU – Centre for Sustainable Corporate Governance of the University Witten/Herdecke).
For further details on the ECOCARE Award contact: Bettina Müller-Röttig, Tel.: +49(0)2631/879131; E-Mail: b.roettig@lpv-verlag.de.

Your press contact:
Dr. Cornelia Jokisch, Tanja Karl
Tel.: +49 (0)211/4560-998, -999
Fax: +49 (0)211/4560-8548
Email: JokischC@messe-duesseldorf.de
KarlT@messe-duesseldorf.de

November 2010