ConfectioNZ 2007 is on in March

The New Zealand Branch conference of the Confectionery Manufacturers of Australasia (CMA), ConfectioNZ 2007, will be held from 8-10 March at the Millennium Hotel in Rotorua.

The theme of this year's conference is "Informed, engaged and resourced " time to work on the business' and will have a new format that seeks direct input and discussion from all parts of the supply chain.

Vice-chairman of the CMA board of directors, John Tolmie will deliver the opening address and will be followed by a range of guest speakers including: Tony Nowell, immediate past chair of the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council; Robert Bree, executive director of the New Zealand Food Industry Group; Peter Nielson, CEO of the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development; and Norman Lodge, principal and technical consultant (food science and technology) at Lodge and Associates.

The conference will focus on a range of issues, including:

• Understanding the macro as well as micro business issues in the global environment in which local confectionery businesses operate.
• Reviewing industry dynamics to foster better outcomes for the whole of the New Zealand supply chain.
• Business impacts identified in a recent New Zealand study by Deloitte and by a member survey, conducted by HLB Mann Judd in Australia.

The keynote speaker for the event is Cheryle Randall, director of The Learning Practitioners, a consultancy that specialises in human, business and organisational behaviour.

Her address will provide participants with a dynamic, yet simple process for self-analysis of their business systems. It will help to understand the decision-making process, how and why people operate the way they do and how to take charge of operating systems.

The ConfectioNZ 2007 program booklet and brochure can be downloaded from the CMA website.