Fruit Attraction 2015, which will be held from 28 to 30 October in halls 7, 8, 9 and 10 at Feria de Madrid, is the largest and most complete edition yet, with participation by 1,000 exhibiting companies from 25 countries, a 20% increase on last year, and 32,000 m2 of net exhibition space, 18% more than the last edition.
Yet again production represents the most represented segment with 70% of the offerings at Fruit Attraction, which will also have significant backing from the auxiliary industry (30%).
The presence of the main fruit and vegetable producing regions in Spain – Aragon, Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Castile and León, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Murcia, Extremadura, La Rioja, Navarre, etc. makes Fruit Attraction the best platform for sales and business and gives visitors the chance to discover the biggest range of content and cutting-edge products and the most innovative systems in this industry.
Furthermore, it has been established as one of the solid international benchmark trade fairs, especially on a European level, with the participation of companies from countries like Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, and the UK. There will also be companies from Argentina, Brazil (which has significantly increased its presence), Chile, Mexico, Peru, the US, and for the first time, other countries such as Nicaragua.
New features at Fruit Attraction
Fruit Attraction will host a new exhibition area, The Organic Hub, dedicated to companies trading in organic fruit and vegetable products, which are increasingly in demand on the international market. With this initiative, to be attended by 50 exhibitors, the fair is highlighting its capacity as a a venue for viewing the latest industry offerings and as a high-visibility platform for participating companies to promote themselves.
Similarly, at this edition the suppliers area has been reorganized into a production area and a distribution area. In this way the more than 50,000 professional visitors will be 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 will discover solutions and technological innovations to improve productivity and production quality.
Technical Sessions
An extensive programme of technical workshops, conferences and parallel activities that will cover a wide variety of topics and attract a high number of participants and speakers to complement the event's trade activity.
Organised by FEPEX, the 1st Persimmon Conference Persimmon Attraction –to take place on Wednesday 28-, will cover issues relating to the production and marketing of this fruit. The 2nd Stone Fruit Attraction -Thursday 29-, aims to showcase Spanish stone fruit production, highlighting for example the diversity and variety of the offerings, which allow Spain to be the only country in the northern hemisphere to be able to supply all international markets for six months (April to Nov.).
Fruit Attraction will bolster its organic fruit and vegetable offerings, in addition to The Organic Hub, with a session promoted by F&H called Marketing fruit and vegetables in Europe (Wednesday 28).
The other sessions include Fruit Retail, (Thursday 29), organised by Alimarket; Single evaluation authority: a tool to make Spanish agriculture more innovative, more productive and more competitive, (Thursday 29), by FEPEX and AEPLA, as well as the INIA Sessions: logistics possibilities in the food chain, (Friday 30), organised by FEPEX.
There will also be sessions as part of the Fruit Forum, including The most efficient and best connected hub in the world for the marketing of fresh products, coordinated by Puertos de España; European fruit and vegetables: production and marketing challenges and requirements, by APAE, as well as the 2nd agro-food journalists forum, #FIPA15, which will focus on analysing the production and marketing of European fruit and vegetables, and is organised by APAE, FEPEX and IFEMA.
Pasarela Innova and Foro Innova
Another of the initiatives which make this event a powerful marketing tool for companies is Pasarela Innova, an area dedicated to picking out the latest products, varieties and brands that the exhibiting companies exclusively preview to the fruit and vegetable market over the three days the fair is held.
In the same vein Foro Innova offers participants the possibility of presenting their latest innovations.
Buyers Programme and B2Fruit New Markets
Established as a first-rate sales tool for companies, Fruit Attraction has achieved a position which allows it to offer participants a platform for momentum and international expansion. To do so IFEMA is making a significant investment in promotional campaigns and an International Guests Programme, which will bring to Madrid around 600 professionals from the supply and distribution chain of more than 50 countries, with high decision-making powers in their companies and capacity to negotiate at the Fair.
As in previous editions, Fruit Attraction will provide exhibitors with the B2Fruit-New Markets space, which aims to set up interviews between participating companies and buyers from new markets with high import capacity. On this occasion the areas selected are Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and other European countries; and the Middle East.
The go-to event in the sector will again include the Fruit Fusion section, an area dedicated to the dissemination, innovation and interpretation of the best fruit and vegetable products for the catering industry. It will constitute a gastronomical space within Fruit Attraction, with attractive demonstrations and show cooking events.
Organised by IFEMA and FEPEX, the 7th edition of Fruit Attraction will take places in halls 7, 8, 9 and 10 at Feria de Madrid, from 28 to 30 October from 09:30 am to 7 pm (4 pm on the last day).