Hortyfruta Taste festival

Hortyfruta's Roque García (left) at the Taste Festival in London

Andalusian cross-sector fresh produce association Hortyfruta has said that it achieved a “great success” with promotional initiatives held recently in the UK and Germany, where it highlighted the quality and food safety of the Spanish region’s products.

Last weekend (18-19 June), the Almería-based organisation exhibited at the consumer-focused Taste Festival in London and the Neuwieder Sommercamp event in Neuwied, Germany, which was attended by “the next generation of buyers” from retailers across the country.

Hortyfruta said visitors to both events appeared “very receptive” to trying Spanish fruit during free cherry, melon and watermelon tastings, and also “showed great interest” in production methods in southern Spain.

For the association, its presence at the two shows provided not only an opportunity to promote the quality of Andalusian fruits and vegetables, but also provided a forum to “try to repair, in part, the damage suffered by the sector” as a result of last month’s E.coli outbreak in Germany, initially, but falsely, linked with Spanish cucumbers.

In a statement, Hortyfruta’s vice-president, Roque García, who attended the London event, said: “The products received a very good reception from visitors, who also showed great interest in the biological pest controls that are being used in our greenhouses.”