Expoliva 2017 growth forecasts are confirmed, surpassing the visits of the previous edition

The balance of numbers of the latest edition of Expoliva has surpassed the initial expectations, already optimistic, confirming its hegemony as a reference fair for the olive sector in the international field, with an influx of visits between 52,000 and 54,000 people and the presence of the 57 olive oil producing countries.

On the occasion of the presentation of the balance of the fair, the President of the Board of Administration of Fair Jaén, Angel Vera, accompanied by Juan Balbín, delegate of Agriculture and executive president of the Olivar Foundation, stated that “adding the forecasts that the organization handled for Saturday, the 44,204 registered visitors until Friday at eight o’clock in the afternoon, it is estimated that at its closure, have gone through Expoliva between 52,000 and 54,000 people. The 48,890 visitors of the previous edition would be surpassed, since the most favorable forecasts predict a growth of 11%.

Ángel Vera: “To the 340 exhibitors and more than 923 companies represented, we must add an influx of mass audiences to IFEJA, which has made Expoliva 2017 the best edition to date”

It has also been an improvement over 2015 in terms of international presence. The international companies present as exhibitors from Germany, Slovenia, France, England, Italy, Morocco, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Tunisia and Turkey go from 31 to 37. If the promotion in the visitors is remarkable, as for the foreign professionals who have visited Expoliva, the improvement is spectacular. They have gone from 3,353 of 2015 to 3,778 in this edition and if we go back to 2013, the increase is of 45%.

President of IFEJA: “We can confirm the presence of 62 countries, including the 57 oil producing countries of the world, which come from countries as diverse as Australia, Montenegro, Uruguay, Japan, Ukraine, Namibia, China, Chile Or New Zealand among others”

The media repercussions of Expoliva have also been very important with 115 accredited media outlets and 385 national and international journalists.

“It is not surprising that from the organization, after the aforementioned figures, we are fully satisfied with the results, since Expoliva remains the most important event in the international sector,” Vera said. “These figures are the result of a very hard work by Ferias Jaén, as this year, in addition, as we have mentioned repeatedly, we have increased the number of spaces available, increasing the Galpagro tent, placing a new exhibition area with the Carp Cifarelli and increased the space of the Pavilion Port of Motril. Puerto del Aceite”, he added.

According to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ferias Jaén, “another of the big bets of Expoliva and the main reason for this sample is to establish lines of business for the participating companies, justifying the holding of three trade missions organized by Extenda, Andalusian Agency Of Energy, the Diputación de Jaén and the Chamber of Commerce of Linares“. In these missions, a total of 703 commercial meetings were held between buyers and sellers of oil and oil derivatives, machinery and technology transfer. The 32 buying companies came from 12 different countries and in them they have participated 60 companies jiennenses producers and packers of olive oil and products derived from the oil.

“An important fact that I want to emphasize is the significant number of direct jobs derived from the activity of the site that we have generated from Ferias Jaén. Thus from auxiliary staff, hostesses, cleaning staff, maintenance, catering service … more than 500 people have been hired, what this means from the point of view of employment generation, “said Vera.

Regarding the Scientific-Technical Symposium, Juan Balbín, reported a 31.16% increase in the number of participants, with 1,751 registrations and a total of 224 papers, 5% more than in the previous edition

On the other hand, “one of the main attractions of Expoliva is the celebration of the most consolidated Expoliva Extra Virgin Room, which has reached its sixth edition this year, where they have finally exposed the 161 best olive oils in the world, qualified as premium oils and has been visited by 5,648 accredited professionals, which has allowed an increase with respect to 2015, of 65.77 percent“, highlighted Balbín