AGRO 2024 Regional General-purpose Agro-industrial Exhibition is held at the Traktor Ice Arena in Chelyabinsk August 21st through August 23rd. More than 150 companies from cities and districts of the South Ural region are presenting agricultural machinery, seedlings, animal breeds, and food products.
A mouth-watering aroma hovers over the exhibition counters. Cheeses, ham, and pumpkin halva are sliced for sampling, mushrooms are fried, and hot sandwiches are prepared right there, and baked goods and soda with chili pepper are offered for tasting. All visitors (the organizers expect about 20000 people) can try these delicacies and purchase them.
However, only professionals can truly evaluate the quality of food products. For this, the jury, that is the competition committee, will work all day to taste the products on August 22nd. For several years now, it has been managed by the Head of the Department of Production Technology and Catering Organization of the SUSU Institute of Sport, Tourism and Service, Doctor of Sciences (Engineering), Professor Abduvali Toshev.
“For more than ten years now I have been participating in the work of the contest committee of regional agricultural exhibitions,” says Professor Abduvali Toshev. “This experience is very important for me: you can see the latest developments in food technology, communicate with representatives of the city administration, and meet students and like-minded people."
“The committee includes representatives of Rospotrebnadzor, the city administration, SUSU and South Ural State Agrarian University, experts in the field of veterinary science, representatives of sanitary and epidemiological services,” says Deputy Head of the Department of Goods and Services of the Administration of the City of Chelyabinsk City Inna Krasilnik. “It is wonderful that people of science and those who make decisions meet here, and we would like to thank Abduvali Toshev for heading our jury once again.”
Each of the 210 lots of food products (such as bread, dairy products, porridge, confectionery, honey, ice cream and even beer) are marked with a number and set before the committee. It is necessary not only to taste, but also to evaluate the organoleptic properties of a product, its market condition, and shelf life. Product packaging also plays an important role, how consistently and informatively it is designed. For each parameter, a score is given on a five-point scale and is put into the questionnaire. As a result, the winner is determined mathematically precisely.
The winners of the contest will be announced at the exhibition’s closing ceremony on Friday, August 23rd.