FEATURE
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
FRIGAIR 2022 : a review By Benjamin Brits
For those who attended Frigair this year , this article will be a reminder to keep of the great experience , and for those who were not able to attend , we aim to highlight all the best the exhibition and SAIRAC workshops had to offer .
By now you would have heard that FRIGAIR 2022 was , in all respects , a massive success . And for that , the organisers and owners have offered great thanks and acknowledgement for all role players - be they the exhibitors , visitors , or members of the organising teams . Having been a part of this experience hands-on this year was really an honour . From the build-up to the break-down I was enlightened as to the amount of work that actually goes into such a great event .
Not only was it an experience witnessing the operations side of things , but what is involved behind the scenes with marketing , online aspects , social media , photographers and videographers , planning and arrangements , setting of objectives and teamwork . Reality is though , to cover the scope of an event of this nature is not something that can be given justice in any amount of pages in a publication , or online . So , my hope is that at least someone from your organisation , or that you know , could give you a first-hand account and information transfer !
One thing is for sure - FRIGAIR 2022 was once again a proven platform that enabled engagement on a variety of products and services where visitors were able to see , touch and explore to their hearts ’ desire . There were thousands of visitors at this year ’ s event ( over 3000 to be more precise ) and the quality of participants was praised from both exhibitors and visitors alike . It was very impressive to see the efforts put in and that was evident by the spectacular , eye catching , interactive and well executed delivery of each and every stand .
If you were one of the unlucky to not make it to FRIGAIR 2022 , the official website will remain active for the next few months with various media you can have access to . You can also download the official show catalogue to have all of the information you need from the exhibitors directly on your device or workstation for future reference . “ The show was excellent for SAIRAC both in terms of the high number of visitors , and the quality of the exhibitors and the quality of their stands . This is especially in light of the past two years and the fact that many people are still ‘ careful ’ to meet up in person . The exhibitors have shown that the South African industry is world-class in terms of products and services . Many exhibitors chose to launch or showcase their latest innovations and products on their stands , showing that FRIGAIR is the perfect platform for this . The feedback from exhibitors in terms of the visitor numbers and quality of engagement was also extremely positive . SAIRAC itself also experienced a high number of visitors to their stand . Many of these were members who came to say hello and chat about the industry . After two years of not seeing anyone , it was really smiles all around as we reconnected with old colleagues and industry members . There were many new enquiries to join the Institute and if they all come through , the institute would in fact add another fifth to its membership . The quality of the networking opportunities was a further standout . All role players are looking forward to 2025 , to come together at the next show ”, said Jaco Pieterse , SAIRAC president .
FRIGAIR was also , for the first time , colocated with four other trade exhibitions , namely Facilities Management , Securex , A-Osh and Firexpo . This combination offered visitors many aspects of learning and contact generation for their businesses and operations . A combination exhibitor function was held as one of the evening events . SAIRAC held their now-traditional member breakfast , where industry also partook to celebrate and issue several of the institute ’ s past presidents with recognition certificates for their respective terms , efforts , and leadership . They included :
• Barney Richardson
• Ron Williams
• John Ackermann
• Patrick Burke
• Derick Truscott
• Andre van der Merwe
• Grant Laidlaw
• Marius la Grange
THE SHOW TRENDS FROM ALL PARTICIPANTS Considering the overall feedback from exhibitors and visitors , several key trends emerged , including the following :
• Good number of visitors and stands to engage on
• High quality visitors and exhibitors alike
• Excellent platform to reconnect with existing customers
• Perfect platform to find and interact with new potential customers , to build awareness , showcase and discover all of the latest products and innovations
“ This was my first show and it exceeded my expectations . It was a great space to meet our customers after lockdown and in-person again . The space is less formal , but still is business-orientated so it made for a good business experience . While we aimed to create awareness around the company and our products , we had some good discussions with businesses that are or have recovered from the last couple of years and are ready to do business again .” - Marc Duthoit , general manager of TCL & TecsaReco .
“ We had an extremely busy show since day one , meeting new faces in the industry . Our goal was to market the business , create new awareness and solidify customer relations as well as generate leads for sales . The show delivered on all of these . We had a wide range of products on the stand , of which visitors wanted to see first-hand how they work . The show provided the perfect environment for this .” - Lourwrens Dreyer , sales engineer at Danfoss .
20 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za COLD LINK AFRICA • July / August 2022