Italy sets high bar as exporters meet in Rimini

Italy’s agriculture minister Francesco Lollobrigida has encouraged Italy’s fresh produce industry to help ‘feed the world’ as it maintains its commitment to supply the best-quality products.

“Entrepreneurs in fruit and vegetables, agri-food and agro-industry are the pride of this nation,” said Lollobrigida during the opening of Macfrut, the country’s largest international fresh produce trade fair, which takes place this week at the Rimini Expo Centre.

“Entrepreneurs in this sector have maintained the perception of quality that is naturally associated with Italy,” he continued. “Extraordinary fairs like this give me the opportunity to meet hundreds of them, who present themselves to the world with research, innovation, and the guarantee of quality in their products.

“And they present themselves not only to the richest nations, who can purchase valuable goods, but also to the poorest ones who want to develop something similar to our way of feeding ourselves, producing and living.”

Renzo Piraccini, president of Macfrut, welcomed everyone to what is the show’s 41st edition. “Today we are inaugurating a record edition, the only one that brings together the entire supply chain of the sector. We are a fair that adds knowledge in addition to business, so much so that if you want to know the future of fruit and vegetables, you have to come to Macfrut. It is this format that makes us unique and distinguishes us in the global panorama of sector events.”

Donato Pentassuglia, Agriculture Councillor of the event’s official partner region Puglia, said Macfrut was a good chance to present his territory’s products to the world.

“We are ready to expand on the global stage by examining the merits of different crops and varieties that exist,” he commented.

Stefano Bonaccini, president of Emilia-Romagna, underlined the leading role his own region plays in Italy’s fruit and vegetable export business.

“From Parma to Rimini, Emilia-Romagna confirms itself as a leading region in food: with only 7.5 per cent of the population, the export of our food exceeded ten billion euros last year.”