The Delegation of CRI Visiting SGF International e. V. for Further Collaboration

On Nov. 15^th and 16^th, 2012, the 8-person delegation from CRI, led by Prof. JIAO Bining, the deputy director of CRI, Dr. ZHAO Xiaochun, the director assistant of CRI, and Prof. WU Houjiu visited SGF International e. V. in Nieder-Olm, Germany. The two parties had a discussion on further cooperation.

Group photo of CRI’s delegation and SGF’s officials in Nieder-Olm, Germany

Founded in 1974, SGF International e. V. is carried and financed by more than 600 member companies from more than 60 countries, over 30 of which are apple juice production companies from China. SGF focuses on the quality and safety of fruit juices, low concentrated fruit juices and fruit juice beverages sold in Europe as well as the international market. It sees itself as a promoter of the quality, safety and fair competition of fruit juices produced and consumed worldwide.

Last October, CRI signed a three-year cooperative agreement with SGF. According to the agreement, SGF will assess the quality and safety of the citrus juice produced by the main processing plants in China from 2011 to 2013 to bring the quality of Chinese citrus juice in line with the international standards. During the processing season of 2011 and 2012, CRI collected more than 40 samples of the original citrus juice and concentrated citrus juice from CRI’s processing pilot workshop and 6 processing plants in China, including China Tianyi Holdings Limited, Huiyuan Juice Group Limited and VEG Concept for SGF’s testing. During their stay in Germany, CRI’s delegation discussed with the SGF’s official group, led by Ms. Heinermann, SGF’s general manager and Dr. Rieth, SGF’s technical manager, on collaborated testing, and visited the quality inspection laboratories. Prof. WU Houjiu, Prof. JIAO Bining, Dr. MA Yaqin and Dr. ZHAO Xiaochun from CRI were invited to give speeches on the trends and standards of China’s citrus juice industry, the control and monitoring of pesticide residence in China’s citrus industry, the samples of citrus juice collected in 2011 and 2012, and the general introduction of CRI respectively. The officials and experts of SGF also gave introduction to SGF and some testing technology.

CRI’s delegation meeting with SGF’s officials

The two parties acknowledged the progress and bright future of the collaboration on the assessment of the quality and safety of China’s citrus juice. CRI promised to fund this project in time to ensure the success of SGF’s testing. After the meeting, Dr. Koswig accompanied CRI’s delegation visiting the GFL laboratory in Berlin. The director of GEL, Mr. Hofsommer showed the laboratory and introduced their work to the CRI delegation. This laboratory carries on the testing of juice samples from SGL and around the world. 

The meeting witnessed both parties’ strong desire for cooperation, as SGF was invited to visit CRI and Chongqing’s citrus production area next year, and Prof. JIAO Bining discussed the possibility of co-founding a quality inspection laboratory in China with SGF.

CRI’s delegation visiting GFL laboratory in Berlin