From 28th-30th November in the International Exhibition Center in Kiev the tradefair Fresh Produce Ukraine 2012 took place. Project Manager Kuno Jacobs from BTO has organised the fair for two years together with City of Dreams and Fruit-Inform.Fruit Inform organised for the ninth time the conference 'Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine - New Challenge' which took place during the trade fair. The Chilean Fresh Fruit Association was again the the main sponsor of the event.
"Compared to last year's trade fair there was 35 to 40% growth in the field of square meters and participants," says Kuno enthusiastically. "The nice thing about this show is that there are so many countries present.
The 150 exhibitors this year came from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Russia, Spain, Syria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Looking at the number of participants per country Italy, the Netherlands and Greece are in the top three. With the satisfaction rate of 81% and 4671 exhibitors and trade visitors at we call this fair a success. "
"The countries are also very involved. During the opening ceremony, the Minister of Agriculture of Lebanon was there with a delegation of 27 people. Moreover, the different parts of the chain from production to export were presence, that makes it interesting for the whole fruit and vegetable sector."
Conference
The conference this year was called 'Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine - NewChallenge'. New Challenge was added to the theme because Ukrainian growers have been faced for two seasons in a row with low prices for their products.
Many producerswere unable to sell their fruit and vegetables in previous seasons. This makes it veryimportant to have a professional approach to advising growers in the area of marketing, market conditions and improving quality. This was discussed in the first two days. On the third day there were within a trading forum, sessions with retailers.This ensured that growers and exporters could supply contracts with supermarket chains, wholesalers and processors.
Jacobs said that he expected to grow next year. "2011 was very strong according to the participants. That is the jewel in our crown. The first registrations for the third editionhave already been made. We want to be seen as an international event and expect the number of countries attending to increas."
