The apple is the queen of exports, first lady of MedFEL
Apples are the world's third most popular fruit and therefore champions of export!
Enjoying the high patronage of the French Ministry of Agriculture, Agrifood and Forestry for the fourth consecutive year, the international business trade fair for the fruit and vegetable sector takes place on 21 - 23 April 2015 at the Parc des Expositions in Perpignan.
Opening its doors for the first time to all types of equipment linked to the fruit and vegetable sector, this year's MedFEL will be inaugurated by Damien Alary, President of the Languedoc-Roussillon Regional Council on 21 April, at 11 am.
Sales efficiency
MedFEL has experienced rapid growth for the past seven years. The goal of this 7th edition is to bring together 300 exhibitors and 6,000 visitors, making MedFEL the largest fruit and vegetable business event in France.
With numbers growing year on year, exhibitors come from every corner of the Mediterranean basin. The largest international pavilions are those representing Morocco, Tunisia, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Greece, Turkey and Portugal.
The most significant French pavilions are those from the Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azur and Pays de la Loire regions together with the Saint-Charles stand. The main apple distributors will be present in force: Pink Lady Europe, Blue Whale, Cardell Export, etc.
A quarter of this year's f&v exhibitors are new to MedFEL, as are the fifty or so MedFEL TECH exhibitors for whom some fifteen specifically selected buyers have been invited.
6,000 visitors are expected, who will gather from all over the Mediterranean basin and two-thirds of France. Also in attendance will be the Spanish, Europe's biggest consumers of fruit and vegetables and for whom France is the leading supplier. The Italians, Moroccans and Algerians will be attending as well…
5,000 BtoB meetings scheduled between f&v operators and buyers. Sud de France Développement is recruiting around a hundred buyers, each tasked with holding a minimum of five meetings with distributors from the Languedoc-Roussillon region.
These buyers come from countries around the world:
• From Europe: there are 6 buyers from Germany, 5 from Sweden, 4 from Denmark, 3 from Spain and 3 from Portugal. Especially significant is the presence of the Danish buyer from Total Produce, Europe's leading supplier of fresh produce with branches all over the world.
• From markets further afield: since apples are easier to export than other fresh fruit and vegetables, this year's MedFEL is opening itself up to new markets such as India (2 buyers), Vietnam (2) and Peru (3), including a representative from Peru's largest supermarket chain Supermercados Peruanos; there will also be buyers from Africa: Kenya, Ivory Coast, Senegal and from Middle Eastern countries: Tunisia, Bahrain and Dubai. For these Gulf countries, the Géant Casino and Carrefour hypermarket chains are the market players that Medfel producers feel most comfortable negotiating with.
• In spite of the Russian embargo, Sud de France Développement has also invited two Russian buyers so as not to cut off all commercial ties with Russia, along with two buyers from Belarus, the gateway to the Russian market.
This choice of buyers will enable regional companies to secure major contracts, as was the case last year when one firm closed a deal with a buyer from Singapore.
Sud de France Développement has also recruited some fifteen specifically invited MedFEL Tech buyers, for the most part from North and West Africa, but also from Spain and Italy. These are direct customers of farming businesses in these countries, whose focus will be to seek out technological solutions in various fields (banking, IT, seed production, fertilisers, etc.).
Innovation
The 2015 event's main new development is the launch of MedFEL TECH. This year MedFEL is broadening its offering to include packing and packaging professionals along with seed producers, plant breeders and cold chain practitioners, amounting to a truly comprehensive international offering for the very first time.
By incorporating pre-production professionals in addition to logistics and cold chain practitioners who already attend MedFEL, the entire fruit and vegetable industry will be represented in Perpignan.
"We already catered for downstream professionals; now we're incorporating those involved in upstream production, explains Corinne Giacometti, Chair of Sud de France Développement, and Regional Council member in charge of tourism. MedFEL Tech is set to be a new tool for F&V sector companies, helping to boost their productivity. It should meet their requirement for innovation which is a key driver of the sector's competitiveness. This will help them maintain a strong position in export markets and meet the changing expectations of consumers. "
In the view of Chantal Passat, who chairs the MedFEL Organising Committee, MedFEL TECH will anchor MedFEL even more firmly in the Euro-Mediterranean. "By broadening our offering via MedFEL Tech, we remain on track with our goal – to enhance trade relations between the countries within the Union for the Mediterranean. Southern Mediterranean countries are requesting information sharing on the various areas of technical expertise."
Performance and dynamism
MedFEL'S primary objectives are to generate more business for exhibitors and present visitors with the most relevant fruit and vegetable offering. It also helps to enhance trade relations between the 43 countries within the Union for the Mediterranean. In a political, economic and social environment that is challenging for Mediterranean countries, which is the theme of the opening session, MedFEL continues to build bridges and provide a meeting place for businesses on both southern and northern shores of the Mediterranean.
MedFEL brings together different stakeholders working in the Mediterranean basin for a programme of debates on topics of vital importance to the fruit and vegetable industry: this year, MedFEL will of course take stock of the effects of the Russian embargo and assess the reopening of the U.S. market to French apples and pears.
Innovation is a key driver of the f&v sector's competitiveness, helping maintain its leading position in export markets and meeting the changing expectations of consumers. Over the 3-day event, MedFEL will focus on issues such as the development of new plant varieties and organic farming, as well as announcing the European summer fruit harvest forecasts for apricots, peaches and nectarines, and melon planting forecasts.
Information on innovation, consumption trends and crop forecasts will be released to the international press. With invitations to visit pilot farming projects in the Pyrénées-Orientales region, media representatives at MedFEL can stay on the pulse of tomorrow's f&v markets.
Programme of debates
To register:
Adhesion Group – 35/ 37 rue des Abondances - 92513 Boulogne Cedex - France
Nicolas Cuissard - Tel: +33 (0)1 41 86 49 03 - Email: information@medfel.com
Contacts:
Sud de France Développement - Jérôme Bouchindhomme Tel: +33 (0)4 99 64 29 36 - bouchindhomme@suddefrance-dvpt.com
Adhesion Group – Catherine Bourguignon – Tel: +33 (0)1 41 86 41 27 - cbourguignon@adhes.com