February and March tend to be busy for us, at the Press Office of the French Trade Commission in London, and this year has not been different overall, if only because there are many trade shows over the period, several of them international trade shows of reference taking place in London or Birmingham. Despite the serious uncertainties still clouding the economic horizon across Europe, the consensus view, among many businesses I have come across, both French and British, seems to be that the economy, in the UK and in France, has started picking up, and many observers appear to believe that a sustained recovery will be on the way in 2013 — barring any crisis of a financial or monetary nature in the next few months, that is, in the Eurozone or elsewhere… Certain sectors of activity have undeniably been affected very badly by the recession (fashion accessories, furniture and interior design, for instance), but others are showing strong growth. This is true, more particularly, of industries that are — or are perceived to be — built around the technologies of the future, such as biotechnology, IT, energy and the environment, security and defence, and a few more. Technologies and companies that enable client entities to cut costs and/or to enhance security seem to be doing rather well. They include software providers in the field of compliance, information security and the integrity of the critical IT infrastructure; specialists in alternative forms of energy; eco-building players, and so on. Beyond the gloomy macro-economic headlines that can dominate the front pages of national newspapers at times, there lies a more complex reality, at micro-economic level, which can come as a welcome relief. Certain niche sectors have been left unscathed, too. I was recently talking to BEABA , a French company specialising in quality products for very young children and babies (such as feeding bottles and high chairs), and their representative in the UK explained to me that they are doing well: parents are not prepared to cut spending on what they regard as essentials for their kids. An area that is experiencing growth is e-health projects, since applying advanced wireless-telecommunications technology to the management and provision of health-care services can help provide patients with a better service that is also cheaper. Typically, such services are used to monitor patients in their own home, thus freeing up hospital beds. It can also apply to elderly people, who can then be kept safely at home — a solution that suits everyone. This was the main topic covered by the press trip we organised at the end of January (26 to 27). We sent five journalists over to Paris for this press trip: three from the UK, one Swedish reporter, and one Danish editor. The press trip was a success and we are now liaising with the journalists with a view to retrieving the articles they said they would write, and send them over to our client, ParisRegion , the agency for the development of Paris and its region. We have another press trip in the pipeline — or, should I say, on the rails — for mid-June (11 to 15), which will take a delegation of journalists from various countries (including Britain) to Northern France, and will focus on railway transport and technology. If you write about this topic, do get in touch with Katherine Woods, Press Officer, who will be happy to give you further details as soon as we have them. This press trip is organised by Nord France Invest, the development agency for Lille and its region, with which we have worked extensively in the past already. Among the trade shows we have covered in the past couple of months, Hotelympia (26 February to 1 March) at the EXCEL exhibition centre, in Docklands (London), constituted a major event encompassing food & drink as well as interior design, furniture, etc in relation to the hotel sector. Another key industry event, in a completely different sector — this time, marine and sub-sea technology — was Oceanology , coupled with Interspill (13 to 15 March), also at EXCEL . There were two French Pavilions, one in each trade show. Among the French exhibitors at the trade fair, we worked closely with Ecoceane , a truly innovative company that has developed a unique range of anti-pollution vessels that are highly efficient when collecting floating waste (be it debris, litter or hydrocarbons). Ecoceane’s vessels are suited to all configurations, from the high seas to shallow harbours: they hoover up the waste in a highly effective way. The company’s ships were in action in the Gulf of Mexico, in 2010: they succeed in collecting the waterborne waste in an emulsion-free manner. Ecoceane’s WORKGLOP® 128 vessel, which was moored alongside the exhibition centre, demonstrated what it can do at EXCEL . The Ecobuild trade show (20 to 22 March), also at EXCEL , is another important trade fair on our calendar, and the French Pavilion showcased close to 20 companies specialising in environmentally friendly construction. You can access our press release about MATHIS , a leader in glued, laminated timber frames, below: they had a stand at Ecobuild . Last but not least, the Cercle Rive Droite wine tasting organised by our colleagues of the Food & Drink Department on 15 March at Le Méridien , in Central London, proved a great success. It enabled representatives of the wine trade and specialist wine writers to discover for themselves the 2011 vintage of the Cercle syndicate of winegrowers. Those growers, whose estates are located on the right bank of the River Garonne (i.e. north of the river and north of Bordeaux), include big names such as Saint-Emilion, Pomerol and Fronsac . The tasting attracted many journalists, including Jancis Robinson of the Financial Times , Jane Mac Quitty of The Times , and Oz Clarke. The Cercle unveils its new vintage in three different places successively, each year: the USA, then London, and finally Hong Kong. I can confirm that the appellations of Cercle Rive Droite are second to none, having done my best to try as many of the wines on offer as was possible. We remain eclectic at the Press Office of the French Trade Commission, as you will see from our selection of stories below, which range from mobile communications and aircraft interiors to specialist hoses for thermal-solar-energy installations, and from fruit & vegetables to the clouds (i.e. Cloud computing, to be precise). And let us not forget YOUPIG — the name of a pre-starter feed for porkers, in case you were wondering what was meant here. We are told the pigs love it: survey upon survey of international porkers, voting with their eager snouts, has proved it, from Spain and Greece to Hungary and Romania. YOUPIG will soon be available in the UK, to the wild cheers of live, mobile tubs of British bacon on four legs. The next issue of UBIFRANCE UK will come out towards the end of May. Till then, you can follow us on Twitter in real time ( https://twitter.com/   at @UBIFRANCE_UK). Philip Jolly Manager — Press Office Mission Economique UBIFRANCE, the French Trade Commission in London   Building and Design   French Fashion Day puts contract-manufacturing on the map   On 18 April 2012, the French Trade Commission UBIFRANCE in London will hold a French Fashion Day in Central London for well-established contract-clothing manufacturers from France. These companies are actively seeking to develop business links with British-based designers.   www.ubifrance.com/uk/ To get the full story click here   French interiors cater to Hotelympia’s needs   The French Trade Commission accompanied seven French companies at Hotelympia 2012 in the Interiors and Technology, Table Top, and Catering Equipment halls. The trade show took place in London from 26 February to 1 March.   www.ubifrance.com/uk To get the full story click here   French players EXCEL at Ecobuild in March             The French Trade Commission presented 18 companies on the French Pavilion at Ecobuild, the world’s leading event for construction, sustainable design and the built-environment sector. The trade show took place in London, from 20 to 22 March.   www.ubifrance.com/uk/ To get the full story click here   MATHIS puts Ecobuild in the timber frame   MATHIS, a specialist in glued laminated timber-frames, took part in Ecobuild from 20 to 22 March. The trade show focuses on environmentally friendly construction.   www.mathis.eu/?lang=en   To get the full story click here   IFT takes hose innovation to the sun   With the Sunnyflex, IFT has diversified further its range of hoses, this time coming up with a product specifically tailored to the needs of the thermal-solar-energy sector. IFT, part of Omerin Group, is a specialist in hose manufacturing.   www.flexibles.com To get the full story click here   IT and Telecommunications     French IT innovators in Infosecurity limelight   The French Trade Commission will present 12 innovative companies on the French Pavilion at the Infosecurity trade show, which will take place in London from 24 to 26 April. These companies will showcase their proven expertise in IT security.   www.ubifrance.com/uk/ To get the full story click here   UBIFRANCE is largest of nationals at MWC 2012   For the sixth year running, UBIFRANCE ran a French Pavilion at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona (Spain). The trade show, devoted to mobile telecoms, took place from 27 February to 1 March. The French Pavilion hosted close to 130 companies — the largest national pavilion at the event.   www.ubifrance.com/uk/ To get the full story click here   UBIFRANCE does its CeBIT for French innovation             UBIFRANCE presented 20 companies at CeBIT, where they showcased their innovative digital products on the French Pavilion. The trade show, the digital-industry’s biggest event, took place in Hanover (Germany), from 6 to 10 March.   www.ubifrance.com/uk/ To get the full story click here   CARTES in Vegas leads the field when the chips are down   The first CARTES in North America trade show brought companies specialising in smart technologies and m-commerce, digital-security authorities, as well as leading technology providers to Las Vegas (USA), from 5 to 7 March.   http://en.comexposium.com To get the full story click here   Natural Security goes from Vegas to Hong Kong   Natural Security, a specialist in authentication technology, unveiled the first payment and ID application it has developed at CARTES North America in Las Vegas and CARTES Asia in Hong Kong, in March 2012. Natural Security’s solution is based on biometric recognition and a secure-technology element.   www.naturalsecurity-news.com To get the full story click here   France’s computing market heads for the Cloud     Cloud computing has been growing fast in France — a sector that has been given the backing of the government’s National Investment Program. The market is expected to have surpassed the €2 billion mark in France in 2011, and may make up over 6% of the domestic software and IT-services industry in 2012.   www.investinfrance.org To get the full story click here   Food & Drinks and Farming     Cercle Rive Droite puts in 2011 vintage performance   Le Cercle Rive Droite de Grands Vins de Bordeaux, an association of winegrowers from the Right Bank, in Bordeaux, presented an exclusive preview of the 2011 vintage in London, on 15 March. The event gave a unique opportunity to sample wines from 33 châteaux from South-Western France.   www.cerclerivedroite.com To get the full story click here     UBIFRANCE occupies the Zone at Hotelympia   The French Trade Commission accompanied six French companies in the Food & Drink Zone at Hotelympia, the trade show devoted to foodservice and hospitality. The trade show took place in London from 26 February to 1 March.   www.ubifrance.com/uk To get the full story click here   ARIANE is apple of Fruit Logistica’s eyes   ARIANE is a unique variety of apple that is resistant to apple scab, which enables growers to reduce considerably the use of chemicals needed to grow the apples. The ARIANE apple, developed by Pomalia, was available for tasting at Fruit Logistica 2012, in Berlin (Germany), from 8 to 10 February.   www.pomme-ariane.com/en/ To get the full story click here   VEGEPOLYS rewards Melkior of Fleuron d’Anjou The VEGEPOLYS competitiveness cluster, the organisers of the SIVAL trade show, and fresh-produce magazine Réussir Fruits et Légumes of France have launched a major Europe-wide competition to encourage varietal innovation in fresh produce. The 2012 competition has rewarded Fleuron d’Anjou with the Gold Prize for its Melkior organically certified shallot seedlings.   www.vegepolys.eu To get the full story click here   YOUPIG seduces international porkers   YOUPIG, the piglet pre-starter feed made by InVivo NSA, is moving further into the international arena. The product has already gained strong market positions in France, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Spain. YOUPIG will be showcased at Eurotier 2012 and Space 2012.   www.invivo-nsa.com To get the full story click here   Logistics and packaging     UBIFRANCE beats the jams on way to Intertraffic Amsterdam   UBIFRANCE is organising the first French Pavilion of its kind at Intertraffic Amsterdam. The trade show, in the road-transport sector, is taking place in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) from 27 to 30 March 2012.   www.ubifrance.com/uk/ To get the full story click here   SITL Europe transported to Paris     SITL Europe, the trade show devoted to transport and logistics in Europe, is taking place at Paris Nord Villepinte, north of Paris, from 27 to 30 March. The event was due to host over 100 conferences and workshops run by PricewaterhouseCoopers.   www.sitl.eu/ To get the full story click here   UBIFRANCE is Packaging Innovations in Birmingham   The French Trade Commission presented six innovative packaging-technology companies on the French Pavilion at Packaging Innovations 2012. The trade show took place in Birmingham (England) from 29 February to 1 March.   www.ubifrance.com/uk/ To get the full story click here   Transport and Engineering   Ecoceane’s WORKGLOP® 128 hoovers up at Interspill   Ecoceane, which makes vessels that collect floating debris and hydrocarbons, presented its new ship at Interspill 2012 — the WORKGLOP® 128. This unique anti-pollution vessel was moored alongside the EXCEL exhibition centre in London (UK) from 13 to 15 March.   www.ecoceane.com To get the full story click here   PNA sails successfully close to the wind in 2011-2012   The Ports of Normandy Authority (PNA), which owns and manages the ports of Caen-Ouistreham and Cherbourg, has released encouraging 2011 results. Various projects in 2012 — including Alstom and EDF’s use of PNA facilities as a hub for assembling wind turbines — are set to strengthen PNA’s place in cross-Channel trade.     www.pna-ports.fr To get the full story click here   France’s aircraft flair flies into Hamburg   UBIFRANCE, Centréco and the Chamber of Commerce of the Midi-Pyrénées region are jointly organising the French Pavilion at Aircraft Interiors Expo. The 23 companies present on the pavilion are showcasing their products and technologies at the trade show, being held in Hamburg (Germany) from 27 to 29 March.   www.ubifrance.com/uk/   To get the full story click here   AÉROCENTRE airs expertise at Aircraft Interiors Expo   AÉROCENTRE is a cluster of aerospace excellence in the Centre region of France and specialises in cabin interiors: it is exhibiting at Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg. The cluster is seeking new customers and partners.   www.aero-centre.fr To get the full story click here   Nanolane’s Sarfus Mapping Lite leads the optical revolution   Nanolane, a specialist in the development of optical solutions for characterising nanomaterial systems, has launched Sarfus Mapping Lite — an innovative measurement solution that fits with any optical microscope set-up functioning with reflected light.   www.nano-lane.com To get the full story click here  

YOUPIG, the international piglet pre-starter feed that is made in France by InVivo NSA, is moving further into the international arena. The product, which is manufactured by one of the leading players in the premix and specialties industry, has already gained strong market positions in France, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Spain. YOUPIG will be showcased at Eurotier 2012 and Space 2012. The YOUPIG range is produced by InVivo NSA (where NSA stands for Nutrition et Santé Animales, which translates as animal nutrition and health). It consists of three main products adapted to the needs of small and large piglets: YOUPIG Baby is a creep diet (i.e. a solid diet for the suckling animal) for all piglets before weaning; YOUPIG 21 is for small, weaned piglets; and, finally, YOUPIG 28 is for pigs that at the weaning stage but already large.    To improve pig-farm performances, YOUPIG pre-starter feeds have been formulated to stimulate feed intake, maintain regular feeding, improve growth, avoid diarrhoea problems, and increase homogeneity across each animal batch. The excellence of YOUPIG pre-starter feeds is guaranteed due to the diversity of the specific raw materials that are used, the high — yet stable — quality of feed, and the dedicated feed plants that come into the product’s development.   InVivo NSA has partnerships with powerful R&D centres in France and elsewhere, with numerous private- and public-sector research institutes, and with an international network of trial farms. This means that YOUPIG pre-starter-feed formulas are produced in line with local requirements and regulations, including those that concern raw materials, targets and sanitary conditions, among others.   This R&D capacity in place with YOUPIG also enables the individual traceability of pigs from birth to slaughter, providing individual body-weight and feed-intake weighing, as well as nutritional-effe ct measurement.   The choice of pre-starter feeds plays a key role in pig production. The success of the pre-starter period has significant effects on slaughter and, thus, on pig-farm profitability. For example, two weeks of a pig’s life represents 2% of the total feed consumption. In addition, a 1.80kg difference in a pig’s weight at 39 days can result in a 7kg difference at slaughter. At the pre-starter stage, an average daily gain (ADG) of 100 additional grams can represent a reduction amounting to 3.50 days at the fattening stage.   To illustrate the point, YOUPIG’s motto is, “What we gain at the start is still there at the end! What we lose at the beginning, we never catch up!”   About InVivo NSA   InVivo NSA has more than 60 years of expertise in its field and is a leading and global player in the feed, premix and specialties sector, as well as the health industry.   Thanks, in part, to the premix made by InVivo NSA, over 20 million tons of animal feed are produced worldwide each year. The company is already strongly placed in the French market, where it generates 52% of its turnover, and is following a strategy of business development across markets worldwide.   InVivo NSA currently serves customers in over 50 countries in Africa, America, Asia and Europe through both local subsidiaries and export channels. With 5,250 employees (67% of whom are based outside France) and 75 production units worldwide, InVivo NSA has an annual turnover of €1.3 billion.   In 2012 InVivo NSA will take its YOUPIG pre-starter feeds to various trade shows, including Space 2012, which will take place in Rennes, in Brittany (western France), from 11 to 14 September, and Eurotier 2012, which will take place in Hanover (northern Germany), from 13 to 16 November.   For further information about Eurotier 2012, please go to: http://www.eurotier.com/home-en.html     For further information about Space, please go to: http://uk.space.fr/     For further information about InVivo NSA, please go to: www.invivo-nsa.com