A group of businessmen from Tucuman, with support from the Institute for Productive Development of Tucumán (IDEP), participated at Fruit Logistica held in Berlin during the first days of February.
Fruit Logistica, one of the biggest fairs for fresh fruits and vegetables in the world, took place between February 4 and 6 at the Berlin Messe monumental complex. 18 companies from the Argentine province attended this edition to generate new business opportunities with clients from across the globe.
According to official figures, the fair was visited by 65,000 trade visitors from over 135 countries around the world and featured 2,785 exhibitors from 83 nations. A wide range of products from all sectors of horticulture and fruit trade was exhibited at the fair.
The professionals attended the fair to establish new contacts and to also find new representatives and distributors for their products, as well as to get the latest news and observe the market and competition.
Leadership
Tucuman continues to be the largest producer of lemons in the southern hemisphere, in volume, capacity, professionalism and cultivated areas.
"Given the international context, producers and marketers from Tucuman negotiated the entrance of their fruit to the Russian supermarkets directly," said Virginia Ávila, coordinator of the Export Promotion Area of IDEP Tucuman and head of the mission in Germany.
"This will be a year of increased production of lemons. We won't achieve a record high, but production will be significantly larger than in 2014," said Juan Pablo Zamora, from Frutex.
Blueberries also reaped good results during the fair. "We had meetings with potential customers in Asia, mainland Europe and the UK that are looking for predictability, good level of quality certification and fruit quality," said Ariel Ares, from EarlyCrop.
"In that sense, we have invested in production in recent years and there will be a significant increase in this campaign's production," he added. "We're trying to shorten the steps of the commercial chain and we believe we are on track," he said.
Companies have grown since the province began participating in the Fruit Logistica, back in 2010, as well as their demand for space within the national stand.
Thus, Tucuman's goal for 2016 is to have 400 square meters at the Fruit Logistica; the province currently has 280 square meters at the fair. "This need arises from a study we have performed in recent years," said Avila.
"This year, for example, the delegation from Tucuman included more than 90 people in the Argentine pavilion and more than 50 people outside of it, in their own stand. Undoubtedly we need to expand," he said.
Deployment
Tucuman was once again the Argentine province with the largest deployment at Berlin's Fruit Logistica.
"We had our own stand for the second year. Additionally, we doubled the number of square meters, generating more presence at the fair. We achieved this thanks to the work and the support we received from IDEP. It was a great effort from both sides," said Zamora.
The international professional audience that attended the Fruit Logistica was characterized by its strong competition and power of decision. The foreign visitors came mostly from Europe (75.6%), America (9.8%), Africa (6.5%), the Middle East (3.8%), Asia (3.2 %) and Oceania (1.1%).
The companies from Tucuman that participated in the fair included Citrusvil, LatinLemon, Zamora Citrus, Diagonal Citrus SA, Trapani Hnos, La Patria, Agro Seleme SRL, Los Burgaleses, Lapacho Amarillo, Acheral SA, Frutucuman, Zamagro and All Lemon, SA Veracruz (lemon, orange and tangerines), Earlycrop SA and All Bridges (blueberry), HortifruitExpofresh (blueberry and lemon) and KingBerry SA (blueberry and strawberry).