Kenya stand at Macfrut 2016
"One cannot ignore Africa when talking about new markets. It is a huge continent with various conurbations. Angola will be among the new exhibitors at Macfrut 2017. They visited the fair last year and, seeing how many people were interested, decided to book a space."
Piraccini is currently in Africa, where he will meet operators, importers and Ministry representatives in Kenya and Sudan. He will also visit producers to see what they need and what they can offer. Kenya is already known as a producer of tropical fruit such as pineapples, mangoes and avocados as well as of green beans.
Sudan at Macfrut 2016
"There is a lot of potential in Sudan as it may develop a production and commercialisation chain, but skills and technology are needed. If we consider the low container prices, I believe Italian productions such as top fruit and kiwi could reach not only Sudan, but numerous African capitals."
This logistics revolution, as Piraccini calls it, means the smartest companies can enter a market before the others. But it's nothing new - economist Gianluca Bagnara has been travelling to Africa for years to help Italian companies.