Royal Jaarbeurs: the Netherland’s friendly, sustainable, and innovative host. A place where you meet and inspire each other and learn and grow. We enjoy sharing what is going on at Jaarbeurs and how we do things. How do we like to do this? By letting you get to know our most valuable assets: our people. Mirthe Brummelman (24) is Junior Operations Manager of the Agrifood team. An international team that organises the trade fairs VIV and Horti Agri Next (HAN) in several countries. She was awarded the Jaarbeurs Golden Tiara in December 2023. An award for young, up and coming, talented employees.

 

Mirthe studied International Hospitality Management at the Hotel Management College in Leeuwarden and followed a minor in Event Management after that. Organising events is her passion, and preferably international events. Through a friend, she arranged for a traineeship at Jaarbeurs and joined the Agrifood team. A team that was very pleased to have her and was not willing to let her go after her 10-month traineeship. Mirthe has been working, very enthusiastically, for Jaarbeurs as Junior Operations Manager already for six months now.

 

“As Junior Operations Manager, you arrange that everything is present that has to be present to ensure that a trade fair runs smoothly. For example, the construction of the stands, signposting, the water and electricity supply, catering, and entry passes for the exhibitors.”

 

The Agrifood team organised the VIV MEA and HAN MEA in Abu Dhabi in November 2023. VIV is the global quality event for the animal protein industry where professionals who are active in the production of poultry, eggs, pork, fish, and dairy products meet each other. A new concept was launched at the same time as the VIV MEA: Horti Agri Next (HAN) MEA 2023. This new trade fair targeted professionals in the agricultural sector and showcased new products, innovations, and technologies. With this new concept, the whole food chain, both animal and vegetable, were represented in Abu Dhabi. As a result, the trade fairs made a major contribution to the global demand for the production of animal and vegetable protein.

 

To the question how she likes to work for a trade fair that is about the production of poultry, meat, and fish, whereas in the Netherlands the number of vegetarians and vegans is growing, she replies: “In the Netherlands and in Europe, there are still many people who eat meat and fish. Meat consumption in the whole world is still growing. As long as there still is a demand, we can – in any case – try to ensure that the production of meat take place as sustainable and efficient as possible. I think that our trade fairs can contribute to this by showcasing the newest and most sustainable innovations.”

The moment when everything comes together when a trade fair is being built, that is what Mirthe likes best. “My favourite time is when a trade fair is being built up. You suddenly see everyone, who you’ve been in contact with so long via email and telephone, in real life. You see an empty hall being transformed into a trade fair. In a few days, a whole new world is built. And to know that we as a team carried out all the preparations, that’s pretty cool.”

 

Talent, entrepreneurship and perseverance is something that we are proud of at Jaarbeurs. The Jaarbeurs Golden Crowns were awarded for the first time in 2022. In the past year, we awarded the Golden Tiaras for the first time. An award for young talented employees. Mirthe was one of the winners. “It really was a great surprise. A few months before the Christmas party, it did cross my mind: ‘It would be great to win that golden crown sometime’. I didn’t know that Golden Tiaras were going to be awarded and I had absolutely no idea that my colleagues were thinking of nominating me. It was really special to receive this recognition after a ten-month traineeship and half a year in the employment of Jaarbeurs. It was extra special, because we had the VIV MEA and HAN MEA in November. The preparation for these two trade fairs was quite a challenge, we were missing a number of team members due to maternity leave and sickness. I tried to see this as an opportunity to show what I could do and at the same time to learn as much as possible.”

 

How Mirthe sees her future at Jaarbeurs in the coming period: “I’ld like to advance to Operations Manager and learn more about the overall planning and the budget. In September 2024, we’ll be launching the brand-new concept: AgriBITs. I think that’s a little intimidating, but developing, being creative, and setting up something new is also a lot of fun. Identifying opportunities and seizing them, that’s what I like to do.