Looking back at my diary for last year’s Fruit Logistica, and taking into account all of the different situations involved – pre-planned appointments, impromptu chats, bumping into old friends while running between halls, not to mention the evening get-togethers – a little mental arithmetic tells me that, roughly speaking, I probably spoke to at least 100 different people during my four days in Berlin. Multiply that admittedly unscientific average by the number of visitors expected at this year’s event (56,000) and you get an idea of the staggering amount of trade-focused discussion that takes place in the German capital.
I would guess at least 80 per cent of those conversations include words to the effect of “How’s business?” Ultimately, that’s one of the most fundamental things about the Berlin event. Yes, being there to market your products and services is important, and of course generating new leads at such shows is a key ingredient in any successful business plan, but I would argue the reason most people find themselves braving the Berlin winter year after year to attend Fruit Logistica and Freshconex is to gauge the temperature of the trade more accurately. Like going over the prevailing weather conditions is a typical ice-breaker in social encounters, asking someone else for a second opinion on your own reading of the business barometer is surely always a worthwhile pursuit.
That is what Eurofruit is here to do, to ask how business is and to deliver the verdict to as many people as possible.
