Cold Link Africa Cold Link Africa_Sept_digital | Page 7

#FRIGAIR2018
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
John Ackermann (left) and Margaret Molefe of DEA catch
up before the ATMO FRIGAIR event.
things bordered at chaotic at times.
Especially when the first course ran over
time and the second set of delegates
were already starting to show up. This
was probably the most frantic moment
of my show but in the end, all went well
and the courses were much praised by
all who attended.
A work in progress. Build-up was so much work — I never
thought it would get done!
This day was a blur of mini interactions. It
would take me forever to get anywhere in
the hall, as I would run into so many people
that I wanted to talk to. It was as if so many
conversations I’ve had over the past six
years were continuing all at once.
I was so tired, but equally energised. It
was also great seeing so many people at
What is a Dunham-Bush exhibit without their (notorious) promo
girls. Olaf, the face of the show, happily posed with them.
the show that I’ve been fortunate to bump
into overseas at trade fairs.
A shout-out to Warren Familiar of
Euphoria Coffee who still makes the best
cup of coffee I’ve ever had. I first met him
during the last FRIGAIR and he’s since been
at a number of industry events. I don’t think
I will ever write up any form of trade fair
My hero, Warren Familiar of Euphoria Coffee.
The stands buzzing with visitors.
COLD LINK AFRICA • September 2018
without paying homage to the baristas. As
a journalist, coffee (and good coffee at
that) is crucial to my survival at these shows,
said the drama queen.
On day one, I finally got to meet the
shecco team who were in the country
for the first-ever ATMOsphere networking
event to be held in Africa. It would take
place the next day. Now, I’ve been a
self-proclaimed fan-girl of shecco and
their work for a very long time — even
before work started on organising ATMO
FRIGAIR. I even saw their UK editor,
Andrew Williams, at MCE in Italy earlier this
year, but never had the courage to go
introduce myself.
I was pleasantly surprised to see
Andrew among the shecco team at the
show. I think the CRS crew knew better
than anyone else when it came to my
obsession with shecco … So, during the
afternoon, as I was briskly walking past
on some mission or another, Wynand
Groenewald roped me onto their stand,
proclaiming that “It’s time.”
He finally introduced me to Andrew
as well as Lydia Matthäus-Wiltink (global
events manager), and Alvaro De Oña
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
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