Fruit Attraction 2022 breaks records and cements Madrid as world fruit and vegetable capital

From 4 to 6 October, Madrid once again became the world fruit and vegetable capital with the 14th edition of Fruit Attraction, the sector's largest international event, organised by IFEMA MADRID and FEPEX.

This year’s edition is set to break all records with the participation of 1,800 exhibiting companies from 55 countries, an expected attendance of 90,000 professionals from 130 countries and the occupation of more than 58,000 square metres of exhibition space.

A total of 8 halls — 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the IFEMA MADRID exhibition centre — will house the wide range of fruit and vegetables on offer at this edition, which means an increase in occupancy of 38% compared to last year's edition, not to mention exceeding the pre-pandemic figures seen in 2019. This growth is also due to the addition of new companies, which account for more than 19% of total participation.

These highly positive figures demonstrate the fruit and vegetable sector's growing interest in participating in the sector's largest business centre, as well as its support for promoting Fruit Attraction as a fundamental lever for internationalisation and a meeting point for all professionals along the entire supply chain.

The immense influence of Spain as a world leader in the fruit and vegetable market was reflected by the presence of almost all the autonomous communities producing fruit and vegetables in the country, cementing Fruit Attraction as an effective tool for generating business opportunities and for accessing new international markets, precisely in a key month for planning campaigns.

In terms of its impact on international participation, 55 countries will be represented on this occasion, confirming Fruit Attraction as the key trade event for production, marketing and distribution worldwide. In addition to strong European participation, with companies from France, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Portugal, Poland and Germany, there will be group participations from Serbia.

Elsewhere, countries such as Colombia, the United States, Korea, Peru, Chile, South Africa and India will be represented, and Africa will see an increase in participation, especially from Kenya, Guinea and the Ivory Coast.

Buyers’ programme

One of the main objectives of Fruit Attraction is to offer a platform for international expansion and promotion. In this sense, IFEMA MADRID, with the collaboration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and ICEX, is once again making a significant investment in the International Guest Programme, which will attract 700 buyers from 70 countries, retail purchasing managers, importers and wholesalers to Madrid, bringing a special dynamism to the fair's operations.

This programme is joined by the ‘Guest Importing Country’, featuring the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Canada this year. Fruit Attraction therefore will open up and promote trade relations with these markets, backed up by a full programme of round tables, guided tours of the fair and B2B sessions.

Andalusia, Guest Region at Fruit Attraction 2022

One of the new developments at the fair had been the addition of the guest region figure. This was the first time that Andalusia was taking part in this year's event, and it represents an excellent opportunity to promote the region as a world leader in fruit and vegetables.

This Guest Region status, starting in 2022, is intended to be consolidated in the coming years, with the aim of reinforcing the visibility of the different autonomous communities and, above all, showcasing the diversity of Spanish production.

On this occasion, Andalusia will be given a prominent role and strategic visibility to promote the wealth of fruit and vegetables found in all its provinces and the extraordinary quality of its produce to the whole world.

Specific areas

In addition to the renowned fresh produced area, which once again had the largest representation with 70% of the offered, and auxiliary industry, with 30%, fresh food logistics, the sectoral platform for logistics, transport and management of the cold chain for fresh food, had been added, with 100% occupancy of its exhibition space.

Following much success, Fruit Attraction is once again committed to transformation solutions through innovation, sustainability and digitalisation with the Smart Agro Area, innovative products that apply information technologies to the fruit and vegetable sector, and Biotech Attraction, research and technological development in agrobiology/plant biotechnology.

Likewise, Ecorganic Market, the exclusive space for the marketing and export of organic products, continues to gain momentum. For their part, strawberries will play a leading role at this edition with the Fresh&Star area.

Meanwhile, The Innovation Hub — at the nexus of pavilions 8 and 10, with close to 50 products — and Foro Innova are the areas dedicated to innovation and business innovations in the sector.

In this area, the fair will once again host the Innovation Hub Awards, which have become a fundamental event for supporting the entrepreneurial commitment of the sector with its usual categories: Fresh Produce; F&V Industry, and Sustainability and Commitment Actions.

Knowledge centre for the sector

The complete programme of technical seminars makes the Fair the great centre of knowledge of the fruit and vegetable sector, with sessions characterised by the great diversity of content, as well as the high level of the participants and speakers. Some of the sessions organised by FEPEX include "Lines of public financing for expenditure and investment in research and innovation in the fruit and vegetable industry", in collaboration with the FI Group, and "The new fruit and vegetable industry CAP starting in 2023", was held on the afternoon of Wednesday, 5 October, as well as the session on "Draft Regulation on the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products: complex, unrealistic and with a direct impact on European agriculture", on the morning of Thursday, 6 October, in collaboration with AEPLA.

Fruit Attraction also was the setting for other events such as the 3rd Fresh Food Logistics Summit, as well as the Biofruit Congress and Biotech Attraction 2022: Biotechnology and innovation for the agriculture of the future, and the 6th Grape Attraction Congress, among others.

Of course, the sector's big event will also include the Factoria Chef section, which represents the gastronomic space within Fruit Attraction with attractive demonstrations and showcookings.

The fair had been the setting for the prize-giving ceremony for the winner of the second fruit attraction podcast contest: #agroinspiration stories, in support of new communication formats within the agri-food sector. In addition, the 12th APAE and fruit attraction journalism awards had been presented, dedicated to international media of recognised prestige in the fruit and vegetable sector.

Fruit Attraction 2022 will once again have the backing of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at its opening ceremony, which will once again be presided over by Minister Luis Planas.