This event takes place twice a year, in the spring and again in the autumn, "We do this to cater for the different seasons within China and around the world, "explained Miss Tsai.
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On Thursday afternoon the reverse purchasing event took place, this was popular among the visitors, Nagesh Shetty from Deccan Produce, India, said it was a great idea, "It is well set out and you can see exactally who the buyers are and also which products they are interesed in."
Miss Tsai commented that it is a very effcient way to do business, iFresh is the only exhibition to offer this opportunity to visitors.
The conference took place on Friday and featured many interesting speakers.
On Friday the exhibition opened its doors to the public.
The stand holders were mainly from China, with a few from countries such as the UK, India and Egypt, "We would like to become more international said Miss Tsai, we are working on it but it will take time."
She goes on to say that the big difference between IFresh and Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Hong is that iFresh is concentrated on mainland China, "We have many exhibitors from different regions of China and as we know, the demand for fruit is growing and will contiue to grow. People are becoimng better off and want good quality fruit, also fruit from other counrties.
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Import is big business in China and will continue to get more important, importing fruit is more profitable than exporting."
Branding is also taking off, "Chinese companies are starting to work on branding," explains Miss Tsai. "Just now people don't really recognise brands. We know apples from different regions, but not the companies. At a show you can show your brand, in 2-3 years branding will become more important."
At this show a few companies yummy77, a company which is big in e-commerce, had a big stand and is promoting its brand, the company is in partnership with Amazon.
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Branding also enables companies to increase their their prices.
Next year there will again be two fairs in spring and in autumn.
Miss Tsai said that Shanghai is a great place to have the exhibition as it is a very international city with the largest trading market in China.