Ifema and Fepex, organisers of Fruit Attraction, have announced that the 2020 edition of the show will be a fully virtual affair, due to ongoing uncertainties over Covid-19.
Following weeks of speculation, the organising committee confirmed on Tuesday that the 12th edition of the fair will take place online.
“This decision comes after months of exhaustively monitoring and assessing the development of the situation around the world, the unpredictable evolution of measures to control the pandemic in the different countries in the coming weeks, and the permanent will to address sensitivities and the needs of the entire Fruit Attraction exhibition community,” the committee said in a statement.
The committee, chaired by Fepex president Jorge Brotons, also announced that the next live edition of the fair has been scheduled for 5-7 October 2021.
Fruit Attraction LIVEConnect 2020, which will take place from 1-31 October, features an advanced technological platform and artificial intelligence system to generate thousands of impacts and brand awareness for companies and their products with buyers, distributors and traders from 160 countries, and is described as “the largest network and professional community for the fruit and vegetable sector in the world”.
“It is designed with all the functionalities to generate and promote new buying and selling opportunities among professionals from all over the world, allowing participants to enrich their network of contacts; share the entire offer of suppliers, products and news of the 2020 sector; establish video calls and eB2B from the same platform; chat-live system; receive contact recommendations thanks to AI system; organise sessions and demonstrations by the exhibiting companies and host videos and technical documentation on products and services,” the committee said.
“In short, it is a new networking tool for the professional community throughout the month of October, a key moment for planning campaigns, which will allow companies to generate countless new commercial leads from buyers with whom they can initiate commercial contact.”
The event will also provide the framework for exhibitors, trade associations and the media to hold their own conferences and talks on different product categories, international market opportunities and other topics of interest, including Biofruit Congress; World Fresh Forum (with specific sessions with buyers from the US, India, China, Japan and the UAE) and the Grape Attraction Congress among others.
“Likewise, Fruit Attraction LIVEConnect will host the Innovation Hub-Accelera Awards finals, as well as numerous daily sessions organised by the exhibitors themselves who will designate Fruit Attraction for 31 days LIVEConnect as the largest and most far-reaching event in the history of those held to date,” the statement said.
According to the committee, registering as an exhibitor on the Fruit Attraction LIVEConnect platform “will imply the maintenance and renewal of all rights acquired for the purposes of seniority and loyalty for the next edition, including a new Loyalty and Boost Programme”.
