Xiana Méndez stressed that companies in the Spanish fruit and vegetable sector have huge international potential, as well as a long tradition in exporting, "as evidenced by the fact that 65% of companies export regularly (more than 2,200 export companies in 2017)." She said that one of the main challenges for the coming years is managing to diversify the markets, since more than 95% of fruit and vegetable exports and more than 77% of cut flower shipments currently go to the European Union.
Other challenge is making the products stand out in an increasingly competitive market. Special emphasis should be made on "the importance of organic products in the face of the growing demand for such products, with growth rates of over 30% annually within the EU in the last decade, and of over 40% in the rest of the world."
Sustainability and innovation are important challenges for the fruit and vegetable sector, according to Xiana Méndez, as well as digitalization; a channel considered vital, especially in the EU, North America and China.
In the coming years, the Secretary of State for Trade stressed that she will support the sector in the process of market diversification in two ways: "On the one hand, by working on the elimination of tariffs on exports to high potential markets (Southeast Asian countries and Latin America), and on the other, by promoting, with new promotion programs, the presence of our companies in already liberalized markets."
The World Fresh Forum has been a space for business and institutional networking, which has served to analyse the prospects for fruit and vegetables, flowers and plants in potential markets, namely the Arabian Peninsula and Canada. It was held on October 24 and 25 within the framework of Fruit Attraction, the international fair of the fruit and vegetable sector, organized by Ifema and Fepex.
Source: fepex.es
