The Medfel Exhibition took place from 24th to 26th April 2019 at the Exhibition Centre of Perpignan. Saint-Charles Export, the biggest delegation service at the exhibition, was present with 53 companies, over a surface area of 426 m², including a collective area and individual stands.
The Occitanie Region and the Perpignan Méditerranée Métropole helped Saint-Charles Export set up this space, and organise activities over the 3 days.
Despite a slight decrease in the number of participants compared to 2018, the number of French and international visitors for 2019 remained high.
The participants were thoroughly satisfied with the recruitment of VIP buyers by the Regional Agency for Economic Development Ad’Occ, and the schedule of appointments for the three days was full. “We met a lot of international buyers who were interested in our offer and over the three days, Spanish, English and German were often spoken at the same time at our stand”. “Thanks to the friendly atmosphere of this exhibition, we managed to further our discussions with each client or prospective client We spoke to a lot of buyers during the exhibition, but it was a real success for us thanks to 5 or 6 top-quality buyers and we will definitely come back in 2020 for the 12th edition of Medfel”. “As a financial institution, the majority of our customer base is found thanks to this exhibition and it provides an opportunity to meet with them in a different context”.
Successful entertainment
As always, this small exhibition was brought to life by the activities organised by Saint-Charles Export in the collective area, providing an opportunity to meet with business contacts in a fun context. Everyone made the most of the lunch, co-organised by the Banque Populaire du Sud, as well as the nocturnal cocktail party on 25th April, co-organised by Crédit Agricole Sud Méditerranée. Professionals, representatives of activities associated with the sector, and institutional players had the opportunity to discuss the business climate and perspectives for 2019 in a completely different context.
This 11th edition of the exhibition was opened by Mr. Cazaubon, the Vice-President of the Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée region who is in charge of the agro-food and viticulture industry. He highlighted the importance of this exhibition for the “fruit and vegetable” sector in France.
This year, the focus of the Medfel was on “super fruit” such as kaki, pomegranate, kiwi and blueberry and the program was adapted to this theme with topics such as: “What role does superfruit play in the sector?” / “What choices need to be made for the superfruit of the future?”
As with previous years, several current affairs topics were discussed on the TV set, found at the centre of the exhibition. Some of the topics discussed were the organic sector, the High Environmental Value (HVE in French) for fruit and vegetables, or logistics regarding the project for new silk routes and the impact of which on the Mediterranean and on fruit and vegetables. Some top, expert speakers of the sector came to talk at the conferences and the debates provided an opportunity to consider the upheaval brought about in the “fruit and vegetable” and “transport / logistics” fields.
The traditional crop forecasts (peaches, nectarines, apricots, melons, potatoes) were also presented by the Chamber of Agriculture for the Pyrénées-Orientales region.
In conclusion
Among Saint-Charles Export’s exhibitors, satisfaction was a requirement. Discussions began on the Wednesday morning. During the first and last day, connections were pursued, as the 2nd day was, as usual, a very busy day. This event was also an opportunity to meet up with buyers invited by Saint-Charles Export at past buyers’ receptions organised by the group over the past few years.
The exhibition was an occasion for some of the foreign visitors to become acquainted with the city of Perpignan and the Pyrénées-Orientales department.
This is an extremely important exhibition for professionals working in the sector and the objective is to become the number one event in France for the fruit and vegetables sector.
For more information:
Nicolas Casas
Saint-Charles International
Tel : 04 68 54 66 40
Fax : 04 68 54 51 04
Email: communication@saintcharlesinternational.fr
www.public-saintcharlesinternational.com