Macfrut organisier Cesena Fiera has dubbed the show’s move to an autumn date a success after welcoming 700 exhibitors and 21,500 visitors to the October 7-9 event in Cesena, Italy.
Traditionally held in May, the show moved this year to an autumn slot and boasted the first European Fruit Summit which analysed the European summer fruit season as well as featuring forecasts for autumn and winter lines. The summit was attended by some 400 delegates from 30 different countries. Discussion centred around falling prices for fruit as well as increasing production globally and declining output in Europe. Consumption figures were also addressed. According to data released at the fair, world-wide fruit production has grown by 17 per cent since 2000, while European output has been on a steady downward trend from 70 million tonnes to 60 million tonnes over the same period. Italy accounts for 30 per cent of the EU’s total production followed by Spain on 25 per cent, France on 16 per cent and Greece on six per cent.
Meanwhile, the Macfrut exhibtion halls were devoted to internationalisation. Show president Scarpellini said: “The 30.000 square meters surface hosted 700 exhibiting companies, among those 20 per cent coming from abroad, with an increase if compared with the previous edition of the fair. We counted around 21,500 visitors, 4,000 of which coming from abroad, with experts and delegations from 80 different countries, a fact which made possible to organize around 300 bilateral meetings among professionals of the industry. Moreover, the presence of important buyers from Italian and foreign mass retailers increased the quality of trade meetings, creating satisfaction among exhibitors.”
Two awards were also made: the Macfrut 2009 for technology innovation, which was won by grading and packing systems specialist Unitec, and for the best exporter, which was won by Italian apple exporter VOG.
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