IFEMA

Fruit Attraction 2021

Fruit Attraction 2021 incorporates new areas of Innovation, Research and Technology © Fruit Attraction

Madrid, 16 June 2021 – Fruit Attraction, a trade fair organised by IFEMA MADRID and FEPEX, will hold a new edition from 5 to 7 October aimed at promoting the sector’s competitiveness and growth. For this, and with the aim of promoting innovation, research, technology and digitisation as fundamental keys to future growth, Hall 5 will bring together the three solutions and services areas related to agricultural sector innovation: Biotech Attraction; Smart Agro and Smart Water&Energy.

Biotech, the great challenges of the horticultural and agricultural sectors

The fruit and vegetable sector faces major issues and challenges that will restrict its capacity for growth, development and competitiveness, such as the opportunities and future of plant biotechnology, its impact on the environment, on industry and society; new digital solutions that add value to the entire agri-food chain; the improvement of production in terms of productivity and sustainability; technological solutions to irrigation; and new developments in energy efficiency aimed at fruit and vegetable farms, among others.

Likewise, agriculture faces new challenges presented by demographic growth, which will increase demand for raw materials, by preferences in consumption, by environmental and legal aspects, and by issues related to the globalisation of the economy. Overcoming these challenges requires an increase in the efficiency (higher productivity with fewer inputs), quality (nutritional, organoleptic) and sustainability (lower environmental impact, reuse of waste, etc.) of agriculture that can only be achieved through the application of new technological developments.

The knowledge generated in applied Plant Biology offers a set of strategic technologies (development of new plant varieties, bioinformatics, genomic editing techniques, agrobiologicals for plant nutrition and protection, revaluation of waste and circular economy, new plant sources for obtaining protein, bioproducts of plant origin with industrial, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, plant biofactories, etc., applications that will make it possible to get to grips with global challenges (productivity, sustainability, quality) faced by the agri-food sector.

Driven by this reality, Fruit Attraction 2021, with the collaboration of BIOVEGEN, is including the plant innovation hub in its BIOTECH ATTRACTION programme, aimed at bringing together and promoting technological innovation and innovation-based business development opportunities. A new specialised area, aimed at companies dedicated to research and technological development of plant genomics.

Smart Agro, precision technological solutions

Likewise, Smart Agro will once again be the specialised space for technology solutions companies in precision agriculture, focused on showing the latest developments in management products for agri-food companies and advanced mobility and analytics solutions, promoting agro-industrial transformation.

Fruit Attraction will also have the collaboration of AgroTech ESPAÑA, which aims to encourage and create business opportunities for agrotech. To this end, different initiatives, such as ´AgroTech Tours´, will be launched, which will allow producers and other agents in the sector to be put in contact with those ‘Techs’ that propose specific solutions. In short, to generate encounters between supply and demand.

Smart Water & Energy, water and renewable technologies

Fruit Attraction incorporates, also as a novelty, Smart Water & Energy, which is oriented to water and renewable technologies in the agri-food sector. Thus, SMART WATER is a new area with the goal of addressing the technological transformation of water in horticulture for the best and most efficient use of water and to improve crop productivity.   It is aimed at professional horticultural producers, and managers and technical directors of companies that install irrigation systems and are interested in learning about new irrigation technologies. In this space, participating exhibitors will present equipment, products and services that incorporate the latest technological solutions in irrigation that are dedicated to smart water management.

In addition, renewable energy on fruit and vegetable farms is a valuable opportunity for farmers to reduce costs and emissions. SMART ENERGY was created with the aim of promoting the transformation of energy use in the sector. It is aimed at fruit and vegetable producers, agriculture and energy consultants, installation companies, engineering companies, and technicians from public bodies and administrations. Leading companies in the renewable energy sector linked to agriculture will participate in this exhibition area; suppliers of renewable energy, electricity, green hydrogen, battery storage, bioenergy, solar pumping, self-supply, financing, etc., which will showcase all the new developments in energy efficiency aimed at fruit and vegetable farms.

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Fruit Attraction 2015 drew exhibiting companies from 25 countries

Fruit Attraction 2015, held in Madrid October 28-30, beat all the fair’s records, reinforcing its role as the EU's main platform for marketing fruit and vegetables, the organisers, IFEMA and FEPEX, said in a press release.

Organisers say the 7th edition of Fruit Attraction, held in Madrid October 28-30, was the most comprehensive to date.

The fair beat all its records, reinforcing its role as the EU’s main platform for marketing fruit and vegetables, the organisers, IFEMA and FEPEX, said in a press release.

Highlights from the fair data:

  • A total of 49,367 professionals from 100 countries attended, up 22% on the previous year.
  • The number of exhibitors grew 23%, with 1,028 companies from 25 countries.
  • The exhibition area expanded 22% to 33,046 m2.
  • The number of international participants increased 46%, with a total of 9,812 professionals from 100 countries.
  • The number of international exhibitors rose to 27% of the total.
  • Visitors from Italy, France, Portugal, Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Poland and Belgium accounted for 86% of the total number of participants from outside Spain.
  • The ‘B2BFruit New Markets’ area hosted more than 200 business meetings between exhibitors and buyers from 15 countries.
  • The International Guest Programme brought over 600 professionals to Madrid from the purchasing and distribution chains of 53 countries.
  • An extensive programme of activities with some 2,000 attendees ran in parallel to the commercial activity

FEPEX and IFEMA said a special mention should go to the Latin American professionals who were present at the fair. They came from 16 countries, including Brazil, Chile, Peru, Mexico and Argentina, joining North American attendees from the US and Canada.

“A large number of professionals also came from the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa), especially Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Algeria, United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and Jordan. Asian and African countries, such as China, Korea, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Africa, Senegal, Mali and Angola also increased their presence at this edition, showing the growing diversification of Spanish and European exports.”

They said the exhibition area featuring fruit and vegetable producers and suppliers was once again the area with the strongest participation, with 70% of the display and 714 exhibitors. The ancillary services sector was also well represented, with 30% of the display and 291 exhibitors.

“For this edition, the suppliers’ area was reorganised into a production area and a distribution area. The professional visitors were therefore able to visit Auxiliary Industry and Distribution and Logistics companies in order to find the best suppliers to distribute their products in optimum conditions, and at Tech4Fruits, they discovered solutions and technological innovations for improving productivity and production quality,” the organisers said.

Among other highlights:

  • A new exhibition area, the Organic Hub, for companies offering organic fruit and vegetable products, attracted the participation of 50 companies.
  • The Technical Events Programme held in parallel with the trade exhibition offered many activities and talks, among them the 1st International Persimmon Symposium, Kaki Attraction, focusing on the realities of producing and marketing this fruit, and the 2nd Stone Fruit Attraction, whose aim is to promote Spanish stone fruit production.
  • The Pasarela Innova area showcased 37 new products offered by participants.
  • The Fruit Fusion gastronomy area was a forum providing information, innovation and interpretation of the best farm products available to the catering industry.
  • Food donations: the Madrid Food Bank collected over 30,200 kg of fruit and vegetable products from the fair, 5,000 more than last year.

The next edition of Fruit Attraction will be held October 5-7, 2016.

See Eurofresh Distribution’s #FA15 photo gallery.

 

 

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How to be a must-see at Fruit Attraction

Organisers of this year’s Fruit Attraction fair in Madrid aim to attract 1,000 companies and 46,000 professionals from 90 countries.

Ten tips for success at the 2015 event from Fruit Attraction managing director Raúl Calleja

Organisers of this year’s Fruit Attraction aim to attract 1,000 companies and 46,000 professionals from 90 countries.
At a recent workshop organised by the 5 al Día organisation, Fruit Attraction managing director Raúl Calleja shared his advice on how to maximise success from this annual event in Madrid.
“You’re not buying square metres but the interest of thousands of clients. It’s a commercial tool for starting business relationships with operators worldwide and increasingly the market international buyers use to select products,” Calleja stressed.

Here are his tips:

1. Organise your participation together with the FA15 organisers
Find out what tools they can put at your disposal and let them share their experience to develop your strategy.

2. Stand out from the crowd
Create a message to communicate that is specific to Fruit Attraction 2015 and that will capture the attention of your targets.

3 Ensure this message appears in all you do to promote your participation
It should take centre stage in your stand image, corporate identity, pre-show, invitations, ads in the trade press. the goal is to make yourself a must-see at FA15! Get people talking about your company and products before the event – create expectations and interest.

4. Pre-show calls to action & organisation
Create an enticing invitation for your desired visitors telling them where you’ll be and why to see you. It’s not enough to just say “Visit us”.
The goal is to generate traffic to your stand with pre-show marketing and promotion. Consider sharing promotion costs with other companies. Organise social media, web banners, newsletters and so on.

5 Make use of the Fruit Attraction programme for international guests
You may be able to invite someone with their costs paid.

6 Harness the tools for exhibitors in the Trade Meeting Point

7 Get your stand design right
Research shows that when someone enters a stand area, with their eyes they look around left to right but physically they usually move from right to left. Keep this in mind and orientate your stand accordingly.

8 Prepare your team for the stand.

Your stand is a point of reception so your representatives should always be identified in some way so visitors know who to speak to. Your stand should also be a centre of organisation that helps optimise your time.

9 Make your stand design the most functional possible

Remember, it’s your headquarters while you’re there.

10 Take advantage of all the promotional tools that FA15 puts at your disposal

Follow updates:
Twitter: @fruitattraction
Facebook: /fruitattraction
Fruit Attraction web: www.ifema.es/fruitattraction_06/

See Calleja’s original presentation in Spanish via the link here.