Fruit Attraction 2018 beats records and strengthens as one of the main world events in the fruit and vegetable sector
Fruit Attraction 2018 has closed the doors of its 10th edition with the participation of 81,235 professionals from 122 countries, representing a growth of 19% over the previous year. This call has been decisive for the industry as a whole due to its ability to bring together the production and distribution channel for fruit and vegetables. The Fair is thus confirmed as a fundamental instrument for the internationalization of the sector, a meeting point for all professionals they integrate the entire supply chain and innovation framework of the fruit and vegetable market. Organized by IFEMA and FEPEX, Fruit Attraction 2018, which was held from October 23 to 25, presented the largest and most competa of all its editions with the participation of 1,621 companies from 40 countries, and an occupation of 51,400 net square meters of supply sector – 15% more than the last call.
The change of days from Tuesday to Thursday, instead of Wednesday to Friday as usual, has been a resounding success, an aspect that has been reflected in a growth of 69% of visitors on the last day of the fair. Some data that confirm the effectiveness of extending the activity to three full days with the fundamental objective of enhancing the commercial useful time of the event.
It has had an attendance of 81,235 professionals from 122 countries, 19% more than the previous year, and 1,621 companies from 40 countries, 11% more.
One of the most outstanding parameters has been the remarkable increase of the international participants that, registering a total of 27,994 professionals from 122 countries, has meant an increase of more than 40%. One more year, those from Europe were the most numerous, especially those from Italy, France, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Belgium, confirming the Fair as a key commercial event for the production , commercialization and European distribution. On this occasion, it is also worth noting the professionals who attended from Brazil, Chile, Morocco, Peru and South Africa. Also, the visitors of the Invited Import Market program, co-organized with the ICEX, and that on this occasion were Canada and the Peninsula area. Arabica, reached 374 professionals from Canada; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; Jordan; Kuwait; Oman and Qatar.
As for exhibitors, international participation accounted for 36% of the total, with 580 foreign companies from 40 countries, highlighting those from the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Greece, and the strong growth of France, as well as countries not communities such as Chile, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina or South Africa, among others, creating for the first time a complete area of the southern hemisphere. In addition, Angola, the United Arab Emirates, Finland, India, Iran, Mali, Malta, Russia and Serbia participated for the first time in the Hall.
In the national scope, Fruit Attraction 2018 counted with the presence of all the autonomous communities. A total of 1,041 companies, 64% of the total, whose success lies mainly in the great interest of Spanish horticultural production in international marketing, precisely in a key month for campaign planning.
Once again, the exhibition area of producers, Fresh Produce, recorded the highest representation segment with the participation of 1,143 exhibitors. The auxiliary industry also had a significant weight, with 417 companies, showing all the strength of the fruit and vegetable sector chain.
Flower & Garden Attraction
As a novelty, this year the fair hosted the flower and plant sector in Flower & Garden Attraction. A new key event within this industry, which has been dedicated exclusively to Pavilion 1 of IFEMA.
In the words of Guillermo Martínez, from Sisanflor, “the face to face is what we bet and we are very happy in this first edition and we hope to come many more years”. On the other hand, Antonio Almagro, from Moldeados Plásticos Alber, affirms that “we wanted to try. It is a very strong bet as a small but necessary company if we want to expand. ” “We attended Flower & Garden Attraction especially for export, making contact with people from other countries. And the national market, being in the downtown area there is also a large volume of attendees, “says Vicente Gil-Mascarell, seed Mascarell. “The type of customer that comes is different from other fairs, more focused on the issue of distribution, supermarkets, supermarket chains; a public different from the one that there is also to arrive “, adds Andrés Guzman, of Viveros Guzman. And José Luis Taboada, from Viveros Taboada, points out that “we come to the fair to get to know and teach the product and its quality”.
Exhibition areas at the Fair
On this occasion, the Fair has strengthened areas such as Organic Hub, dedicated to companies of organic horticultural products; the Smart Agro space, focused on the application of new technologies, and the Nuts Hub area, dedicated to nuts. The Innovation Hub and Foro Innova were the areas dedicated to innovation and business innovations in the sector.
In this area, the fair hosted the Accelera Awards for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, from 39 participating companies, the winners were UNITEC, with its product Blueberry Vision 2 Unitec Technology and RIJK ZWAAN IBERICA SA, with Lechuga Snack. And of course, the The sector’s great feast made room for the Fruit Fusion section, which once again represented the gastronomic space within Fruit Attraction with attractive demonstrations and showcookings.
Technical Conference Program
In parallel to the commercial exhibition, Fruit Attraction was also the scene of an extensive program of technical conferences and activities, which offered professionals a space for debate and exchange of knowledge.
Among others, he highlighted the World Fresh Forum, co-organized with ICEX, as a business and institutional networking space to take advantage of opportunities in the Arabian Peninsula and Canada. Also the Biofruit Congress, which debated the future of ecological markets; the Walnut Attraction session that analyzed the reality of the nut sector in Spain and Europe; the International Kaki Congress, Kaki Attraction; the V International Congress of grape seedless table, Grape Attraction; Digital Attraction, experiences, innovation and internationalization opportunities in Smart Agro; Technology Attraction, discussed new opportunities in plant biology. It also hosted other sessions such as Opening new markets: bilateral negotiations and logistics and Presentation of the Alliance for sustainable agriculture. Likewise, Fruit Attraction was the framework of the awards ceremony of the Association of Agri-Food Journalists of Spain -APAE-, and Fruit Attraction, which this year have fallen to the journalists David Centellas Navas and Manuel Ansede and the French magazine Vegetable.
Food Bank of Madrid
Fruit Attraction again facilitated the collection of fruits and vegetables from the exhibitors for the Food Bank of Madrid, which managed to collect more than 37,000 kilos of fruit and vegetable products for their solidarity use, covering more than 10 entities that serve, globally, 7,500 people
Organized by IFEMA and FEPEX, the 10th edition of Fruit Attraction took place in Halls 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of Feria de Madrid, from October 23 to 25 and was inaugurated by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment, Luis Planas.
