On the 23rd, 24th and 25th of October we will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the successful Spanish fruit and vegetable growing trade fair, Fruit Attraction
Raúl Calleja, the show’s manager brings us up to date about the new developments that we will discover this year and about the celebratory events that will take place.
This year Fruit Attraction will turn 10. Are any special actions in the pipeline?
On Tuesday the 23rd, we will throw a big party at the end of the day in the central square of Fruit Attraction. We are working on a commemorative event because we want to thank the founders and all those who have attended and continue to attend Fruit Attraction.
Fruit Today is one of these founding members; therefore, I would like to take advantage of this interview to pass on our special gratitude to all its team for all these years of work, smiles, its ‘Estrellas de Internet’ awards… An undisputable leader in the history of Fruit Attraction.
What are the main new developments that we are going to find at this edition?
The most important one is the fact that we have changed the trade fair’s days to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We want to promote to the full the effectiveness of the commercial uptime of the 3 most important working days of the week.
The programme for these days will be very solid, with the BIOFRUIT CONGRESS standing out, to deal with all the sectorial opportunities and challenges of the bio segment in Europe.
In 2018, emphasis will be put on different areas such as the Organic Hub, devoted to companies with biological fruit and vegetable produce; the Smart Agro space, centred on the application of new technologies and connectivity aimed at increasing the productivity of fruit and vegetable businesses, and the Nuts Hub area, devoted to dried fruit. The traditional space, Pasarela Innova has turned into The Innovation Hub, an area devoted to innovation and new business developments in the sector.
Additionally, this year we are promoting the programme of seminars and sectorial knowhow – Foro Innova and Fruit Forum, revaluing innovation and technology as agents of change and evolution. And also the flower and plant sector has joined the trade fair, with Flower&Garden Attraction.
Regarding the guest importing countries, this time they will be Canada and Saudi Arabia. This action will encourage trade relations between European Union countries and these two markets backed by a complete programme of panel discussions (World Fresh Forum), guided visits and B2B sessions.
Alongside this initiative, an important investment will once again be made in the International Guest Programme, which will bring to Madrid 1,000 guest retail purchase managers, importers and wholesalers from all over the world.
Regarding the international evolution of the trade fair, to what extent are the exhibitors and visitors from outside Spain increasing?
The final participation forecasts that we have show an increase of 16% both in exhibitors and in exhibition surface area. We estimate a participation that will include over 1,600 companies from all over the world and around 70,000 trade visitors from 120 countries.
We are still in the midst of our marketing process, but we have already seen a greater international participation, with EU countries such as Holland, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Greece, with emphasis on the important growth of France, as well as non-EU countries such as Chile, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Columbia, Argentina, South Africa… For the first time creating a complete area from the southern hemisphere that will be located in hall 10.
