A total of three Andalusian companies from the horticultural sector participated for the first time as a group at the Asia Fruit Logistica fair, which was held from September 6 to 8 at the Asia World Expo in Hong Kong, with the Ministry of Economy and Knowledge, through the Extenda-Andalusian Agency for Foreign Promotion.
Asia Fruit Logistica is the reference fair for the Spanish operators of the horticultural sector in the region. The strategic celebration of this fair in Hong Kong offers the opportunity not only to meet with potential local customers, but also to make themselves known to potential buyers from countries in the area.
The 2016 edition of this competition had 665 exhibitors from 37 countries, including 35 Spanish companies, 11 national pavilions, as well as 11,284 visitors from 74 countries.
Hong Kong has become a very interesting market for horticultural products, especially for fresh fruit. According to Extenda's data, in 2016 3.562 billion euros were imported in fruit and 553 million in vegetables, although only 43% of imported fruits went to local consumption, with the rest being re-exported to mainland China.
Spain is making its way into the Hong Kong fruit market, so that in 2016, 6.7 million euros in citrus were exported. In addition, grapes, prunes, apples, blueberries and persimmons were exported for a total value of 7.5 million.
Andalusian presence
The Andalusian delegation that participates as a group in the fair by way of Extenda is formed by the Seville company Frutosol; the Cordoba SAT Guadex, S. L; and the Unica Fresh, SL
Extenda's organization will be co-financed with funds from the European Union through the ERDF PO of Andalusia 2014-2020, with a community contribution of 80%.
Andalusia: a leader in fruit and vegetable sales
Andalusia leads the Spanish exports of fruit and vegetables in 2017, with sales of 3.544 billion euros in the first six months of the year, which represents 42% of the national total and a growth of 12.5% over the same period of the previous year, the highest increase among the five most exporting communities.
The most exported products are fresh or chilled tomatoes, with 494 million euros, 13.9% of the total and an increase of 16.5%; followed by fresh strawberries, with 477 million, 13.4% and an increase of 0.7%; and peppers, with 445 million, 12.6% and an increase of 8.5% compared to the first half of 2016.
Europe is the main destination for exports of Andalusian fruits and vegetables, with Germany as the first market, with 1.010 billion, 28.5% of the total and a rise of 9.4%; France, in second position, with 544 million, 15.4% and increase of 9.8%; and the United Kingdom, third, with 525 million, 14.8% and increase of 5.5%.
Asia, a growing market
Asia is one of the markets that can bring greater diversification to the Andalusian sales. In this way, exports of fruit and vegetables from Andalusia to this market grew in the first half of the year by 40% to 25.9 million euros. China stands out at first with 25.1% of total sales, or 6.5 million euros, a figure that multiplied by six in the first half of 2016.
Hong Kong, in fourth place among the Asian markets, recorded sales of 2.3 million euros, a 66% growth over the same period of the previous year.
The products most demanded by the Chinese market are blueberries and cranberries, which recorded sales of 3.4 million euros, double the figure recorded in the first half of 2016; followed by citrus peel, melons and watermelons, with 1.6 million, which grew by 14.7%; and fresh or dried nuts, with 1.5 million, up 39%.
Extenda supports the sector
The configuration of the agri-food sector as an outstanding engine of the Andalusian economy make it one of the main hubs of action of the Ministry of Economy and Knowledge that, through Extenda, has designed a multitude of specific actions for the sector, such as the agri-food mission in the Andalucía Sabor framework, that will take place this same month of September.
As for the fruit and vegetable subsector, in addition to Asia Fruit Logistica, which has been included as a novelty this year to address the Asian market, the program concentrated on many activities in 2017. The year began with one of the most important fairs of this field, Fruit Logistica, which was held in Berlin in early February, to which will add another usual event, Fruit Attraction, which will host Madrid in October.
In addition, two direct horticultural missions have been developed in France and the United Kingdom, while three more are planned for Canada and Poland, both this September and October in Austria and the Czech Republic.
Finally, among the multisectoral agri-food actions planned for the last quarter of the year there are; a direct agri-food mission to Chile in late September, two to India and Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, both in November, and participation in the Anuga fair, in Germany in October, or Saudi Foodex, which also in November.