Fruit Attraction continues to grow

This year’s edition of Fruit Attraction is expected to have attracted its largest crowd ever as major players in the European fresh produce business convened for the annual exhibition, held at Ifema in Madrid on 28-30 October.

Although the final visitor number is yet to be released, organisers Ifema and Fepex indicated they expected it to be above last year’s total of 40,000.

This year saw an increase in the number of companies from the Americas taking part, with Brazil, Argentina, Chile, the US, Canada, Mexico and Nicaragua making up 9 per cent of the total exhibitor number, which was around 1,200 from 25 countries.

Other countries taking part for the first time included Austria, India and New Zealand, reflecting the fair’s growing internationalisation, Ifema said.

This year’s event continued to place an emphasis on product innovation, with chefs giving live cooking demonstrations to highlight the potential marketability of products like broccoli and Tozer Seeds’ new Flower Sprout.

Pasarela Innova, a showcase of new product launches, provided visitors with a range of different cutting-edge items to look at, including Envy apples and Golden Nugget seedless mandarins.

Vincent Dolan, European marketing director for leading supplier Total Produce, said the show had become an important appointment in the group’s calendar alongside other major shows like Fruit Logistica and PMA Fresh Summit.

“We’ve brought around 65 executives to Fruit Attraction this year, many more than we did last year,” he told Fruitnet.