From the President
EFCEM President Martin Ubl reports on major achievements, milestones, and updates from the Federation in 2024
EFCEM achieved a significant amount in 2024. A considerable amount of this was 'behind the scenes' organizational – but very necessary – administrative and restructuring work for the Federation.
The board has achieved a lot in a short space of time, including establishing Working Groups (WGs) on BIM & Connectivity (WG1&4) and the Environment (WG2). These groups are meeting regularly and moving the topics of concern forward. WG2 has been working collaboratively and has already been extremely influential in relation to the topic of F-Gas, while the WG3 Health, Safety and Water group has been reborn since the Covid pandemic. It has established a fresh agenda and will publish its meeting timings for 2025 soon.
Our members have shown increased interest in seeing the task force (TF) for coffee machines be re-established – which was excellent to see – so we will also publish meeting dates set for that (TF1) in 2025 very soon.
Elsewhere, I'm delighted to say we successfully established the National Association of Producers (NAP) Members Committee this year, and we look forward to reporting back on its progress in the New Year.
Our General Assembly took place in Athens, Greece, in 2024. It was extremely successful and very well hosted by SEEME, whom I thank for their kind hospitality and outstanding organisation. The event featured an insightful presentation from Olivier Janin, Deputy Director General of our partner Orgalim, which represents Europe's technology industries in Brussels. I look forward to working closer with Orgalim in 2025.
We have also laid the foundations of a new 'Code of Conduct' to ensure all meetings and engagements are fully compliant with competition laws.
Finally, this year we also developed a new long-term marketing strategy and established a relationship with our new marketing partner, the London-based 1473 Media. The output of that partnership includes our new regular newsletter and the creation of a new animated video that showcases the work EFCEM does on behalf of its members.
Four priorities for EFCEM
When I became President of EFCEM in June 2023 it was a huge honor for me, and I am really pleased with the work the team has achieved since then. At our AGM meeting in 2023 I detected a new spirit about the Federation, and I am delighted to say we have only grown that.
My goal as president is for us to focus on four priorities. The first is communication. The board is united and determined to increase and improve our communication to EFCEM members and show them clearly how we are helping to support their daily work. EFCEM is the only representation of the foodservice equipment manufacturing industry on a European level, so effective communication is critical.
The second priority is our WGs, because these are an essential part of EFCEM's output. We currently have five WGs plus additional TFs to support them too. These groups help us to tackle relevant and important topics in the industry and enable us to influence these matters in our interest. That's hugely important because EFCEM's real purpose is to find the common interests of our manufacturer members and support them.
Our membership of Orgalim is crucial to that, and that's why it is our third priority. It is such a strong partner for us on a European level, helping us to fight for the interests of our industry. They represent many thousands of companies, so we have a close cooperation with them because they enable us to have even greater access to key decision-makers in Brussels. In a recent meeting we had with Orgalim in their head office we agreed to work closer together, with the express intention of being able to provide more information – and therefore more value – to our members
The final priority is focused on EFCEM's funding. In order to have a strong Federation with relevance and real strength, it must be properly funded. To that end, it's our intention and motivation to reach out to new national associations and to motivate them to join the Federation. But I also want to encourage new ideas as to how we can be a little bit better funded as an association too.
I firmly believe the European foodservice equipment industry is the most innovative and best in the world. Yes, there is a lot of turbulence in the world, and 2025 will be no different, but EFCEM will be working hard to create advantages for our members in the future and support them throughput the value chain.
In order to help us do that better, we need your feedback please, so I would appreciate it if you could fill in our member survey , if you have not already done so. Otherwise, thank you for your continued support of EFCEM, and here's to an excellent year in 2025.
Martin Ubl