13th Virtual Business Roundtable Completes New Training Cycle for Agri-food Companies

Santiago, Chile - With a record attendance of 927 participants, the training cycle of the 13th Virtual Business Roundtable for Agri-food Chains in Latin America and the Caribbean concluded this week. This project offers a space for generating business opportunities for agri-food companies in the region, with the aim of consolidating and diversifying their export markets and strengthening food security and the socio-economic development of the region.

The initiative seeks to promote commercial links between companies that sell and buy food, in a free virtual environment that facilitates business meetings, designed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA).

Each edition of this event includes two capacity-building sessions open to the public, designed to prepare agri-food SMEs for business meetings with major buyers across the hemisphere. The first session addressed "Keys to Becoming Suppliers to Retail Chains," with the participation of retailers such as Walmart and the Grupo de Tiendas Asociadas (GTA), along with the SME Bite, whose founder shared her success story of dealing with large companies before more than 430 attendees.

The second session, meanwhile, brought together nearly 500 attendees and focused on "Marketing Strategies," featuring guidance from the CEO of Fundamenta Consulting, who taught SMEs how to analyze the competition, and from the Marketing Director of Corporación Multi Inversiones, who discussed how to outperform the competition by promoting the product without compromising price.

Virtual Business Roundtables for Agri-food Chains

Since 2020, the organizing institutions have jointly developed twelve editions of the Virtual Agri-food Roundtable, achieving the participation of more than 6,000 companies from Latin America and the Caribbean. The initiative was launched that year in response to the difficulties faced by actors in agri-food chains due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“At a time of challenges for global trade, today due to the increased costs of energy, fertilizers, and logistics resulting from the conflict in the Middle East, intraregional trade takes on special importance. Maintaining the flow of agri-food products allows producers to position food in this market and, in turn, contributes to food availability for people, thus strengthening food security,” explained Pablo Rabczuk, Senior Program Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean.

“In a context of growing challenges for international trade, these virtual business matchmaking events have become a key platform for connecting stakeholders in the Latin American and Caribbean agri-food supply chains. Each edition brings together food producers and exporters, input and service providers, and specialized buyers from more than 20 countries in the region. As a complement, the capacity-building seminars aim to prepare participating companies to better leverage the business opportunities generated by intraregional trade,” commented Daniel Rodríguez, Manager of International Trade and Regional Integration at IICA.

Throughout previous editions, “this initiative has facilitated the generation of business contacts and closer ties between companies in the region, helping participating SMEs to identify business opportunities, showcase their export offerings, and establish relationships with potential buyers. It has also provided producers with practical tools to strengthen their capabilities and support their successful integration into supply chains,” said Edith Flores, Director of the Center for Studies on Economic Integration at SIECA.

How does it work

Companies interested in holding business meetings for the agri-food trade must register on this link before May 27, 2026.

Once registered, the SIECA technical team will assist companies in creating their profile, identifying potential buyers, and coordinating appointments between companies for business meetings. Translation services will also be provided if needed.

The meetings will take place from June 1 to 5, within the framework of the XIII Virtual Business Roundtable, offering participants the opportunity to connect from anywhere in the world using a mobile device or computer with an internet connection. During the meetings, companies will be able to share their screens and showcase their products in a dynamic environment that fosters business interaction.