Fruit Attraction São Paulo draws international crowd

Some 12,000 visitors from more than 45 countries gathered in São Paulo last week for the first edition of Fruit Attraction São Paulo at the São Paulo Expo, according to its organisers. The three-day event drew more than 300 exhibitors from the entire fruit and vegetable production chain from 15 countries and eight Brazilian states.

This included exhibitors from France, Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, the United States, New Zealand, Egypt, Turkey and Israel.

Jaime Martín, director of international expansion at Ifema Madrid, who co-organised the event with Fiera Milano Brasil, commented: “Fruit Attraction São Paulo is born as the international fair of reference for the fruit and vegetable market in the Southern Hemisphere, alternating and harmonising with Fruit Attraction Madrid, which is the leading event in the Northern Hemisphere.

“This fair will be the meeting point, not only for producers from all the Brazilian states, but also from Latin American countries. We are proud to be able to contribute to the growth of the local fruit and vegetable market and to be able to share our specialised know-how for this”.

Maurício Macedo, general manager of Fiera Milano Brasil, said he had already had a high rate of renewal requests from exhibitors, while many visitors had already expressed an interest in exhibiting at the next edition of the fair.

Guilherme Coelho, president of Abrafrutas, said the fair that is here to stay. “Important elements such as good stands, business meetings, content panels and, above all, crowded aisles indicate that the event will consolidate,” he said.

The organisers said the next edition will increase in size, occupying two pavilions of the São Paulo Expo.

The event featured an interactive experience and forum with more than 20 hours of content. Renowned chefs prepared recipes with the ingredients exhibited in the Cooking Show by São Paulo Negócios space. The Fruit Forum, sponsored by the governments of Bahia and Maranhão, the Port of Suape and Apex Brasil, marked the new trends and opportunities for those who are or wish to be entrepreneurs in the fruit and vegetable sector.

In partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex), the fair also featured the International Buyers Programme, which brought together buyers from 33 different countries and held more than a thousand business meetings during the three-day event, which the organisers said should generate sales worth R$1bn in the next 12 months.

Victor Rodrigues Ferreira, Sebrae’s national agribusiness analyst, said: “Producers experienced this range of opportunities, facilitating new business. We need a space like this in Brazil and this first edition sowed the seeds. I believe that next year, with more time, the number of visitors will increase even more”.