Nine agri-food enterprises, together with the Chamber of Commerce and the Provincial Council of Teruel, travelled to Brussels last week, from 25 to 27 September, in order to promote and sell their products on the Belgian market.

The companies participating in this project are producers of olive oil, peaches, ham, and cold meat, saffron, cava, wine, cheese, and truffles. During the three-day trip they visited different gourmet shops: Freshmed, Great Market and Rob The Gourmets’ Market. In these visits, they were able to meet the managers and sales directors, who explained the current situation of their products and competitors, while the enterprises presented their products, with the aim of entering this market in the near future.

In addition to the gourmet supermarket visits, they had the opportunity to attend the Taste of Tavola fair in Kortrijk. There, they were welcomed by JOKA, one of the leading importers and distributors of gourmet products. After exploring the fair, a showcooking was held, led by Hispania Brussels chef Adrián Mancheño, who prepared various tapas that the distributors in attendance had the opportunity to taste.

To complete their stay in the European capital, they attended meetings with representatives of different institutions, to whom they expressed their problems and needs: Miguel Galante from the Office of the Government of Aragon to the European Union; Pedro Yenes, coordinating advisor for Agriculture in the Permanent Representation of Spain to the European Union; Pilar Ruiz, director of the delegation of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce to the European Union; and Pablo Arias and Gabriel Mato, two MEPs who received them in the European Parliament.

Last 21st September, a reunion was held at the Official Residence Ambassador Marqués de Villalobar between representatives of the Chamber and the Ambassador of Spain in Belgium, Beatriz Larrotcha Palma, to bid farewell to the former Honorary President of the Chamber during the last four years.

During the encounter, which was attended by other diplomats of the Embassy, a review of the fruitful collaborations carried out between the Embassy and the Chamber was made, and the future actions that could be carried out to continue defending the interests of the Spanish companies in Belgium, as well as to promote the “Marca España” were discussed.

During the meeting, the President of the Chamber, Pablo López-Álvarez, handed a gift to Ambassador Larrotcha as a sign of gratitude for her “great work during the last four years and for her support to the Spanish companies”.

From the 18th to the 21st of October took place the 27th edition of the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs Network Meeting. The meeting, in online format, offered the different consortiums participating in the programme the opportunity to learn about the future of the EYE programme and network online with different intermediary organisations.

During the first day, different representatives from the European Commission (EC) presented how the program has recovered from the crisis and the coming actions. On the second day, different workshops were organised to improve the communication on social networks and the quality of the exchanges.

On the last day, the European Commission, EISMEA and the Support Office addressed the plenary and provided conclusions for the event.