Please note that the date of the convention has changed to 07 to 10th October as for the date chosen previously there was no availability in any hotel in Bilbao to host our convention due to a large number of events taking place in the city at that date.
The convention will take place in the Hotel GranBilbao – https://www.hotelgranbilbao.com/
Something new this year: you will have to book your room(s) as soon as possible through EPIA! You will soon receive a mail from Maryse with details of booking for both convention and rooms through EPIA.
Thanks to Francisco Wendt and his dynamic team
from Hielos de Vitoria!
The convention fees for 2019 in Bilbao will be €394 for the first attendee and €356 for each subsequent attendee. If the convention fees are paid prior to 30 June 2019, the fees will be discounted to €315 and €285 respectively for timely attendance commitments.
Booking your room: fill the form here and send to: maryse.prior@gmail.com
Room price:
147€/night Double Room Individual Use, Accommodation & Breakfast (10% VAT included)
168€/night Double Room, Accommodation & Breakfast (10% VAT included)
How to get to Bilbao:
Barcelona – Bilbao by plane: 1 hour trip – Vueling or Iberia between 68€/110€
Madrid – Bilbao by car: 3.30 hour trip
Madrid – Bilbao by train: 5 hour trip – www.renfe.com – Direct 56 € Return
Bilbao International de Airport: http://www.aena.es/es/aeropuerto-bilbao/index.html
Madrid -Bilbao by plane 1 hour flight: Iberia/Air Europa/Vueling
We remind all our producer’s members to send your up dated HACCP certificates to Maryse as soon as possible.
Congratulation to Frescofrio – Spain for it’s IFS Certification!
1 – The EPIA depends upon your financial support in order to provide a fertile platform for you to share ice industry ideas and strengthen relationships among ice men and women. Please remember membership dues are payable by the end of the first quarter of each year; 31 March 2019 for the current year. At this time of the year, it is appropriate to remind each member that late payment of dues carries a penalty of 25% of the amount of the annual membership dues. The penalty increases the dues for each category of membership with the penalty amount ranging from €112.50 to €237.50. Please respond in a timely manner to keep the EPIA financially capable to meet our obligations.
Over the past years we have found that a large number of convention attendees do not commit to attend until the last couple of weeks and sometimes last few days prior to the convention. This situation causes your convention committee and BoD to struggle to accurately project the convention attendance. Without an accurate projection, the EPIA lacks the assurance to commit EPIA funds to the host hotel and local providers of festivities supporting the annual convention. This has caused confusion, significant program adjustments, and even cancellations related to the convention program offerings in past conventions. To alleviate this financial jeopardy caused by late registration, your BoD has decided to encourage timely commitment for the 2019 convention. The convention fees for 2019 in Bilbao will be €394 for the first attendee and €356 for each subsequent attendee. If the convention fees are paid prior to 30 June 2019, the fees will discounted to €315 and €285 respectively for timely attendance commitments.
2 – We should all be pleased to find that the EPIA has become more and more recognized as a standard of quality in the packaged ice industry in Europe. As such, we are finding some instances of non-EPIA members purporting to be associated with the EPIA.This has the effect of diluting the significance of our “brand.” Your BoD has encountered this situation several times over the past few years and have been able to stop the infractions. In order to better curtail the misuse of the EPIA proprietary registered name, logo, and tagline (Ice You Can Trust), there will be a “bounty” offered for reporting and helping to curtail the illegitimate use of the EPIA proprietary property under the