Events

Fruit Logistica 2010: Building trust and bridges between buyers and sellers

Under the slogan of “Bringing plant potential to life”, Syngenta presented itself as an integrated crop solutions and services company

Fruit Logistica 2010 has closed its doors with record participation figures: 53,000 visitors from 130 countries attended this event. “The objective of Fruit Logistica 2010 was to bring together buyers and sellers in search of quality business,” Global Brand Manager of Fruit Logistica, Gérald Lamusse, declared. “In the fresh produce sector you need trust, and this is fostered by building personal bridges,” he added.

Under the slogan of “Bringing plant potential to life”, Syngenta offered its own perspective on the fresh produce market at Fruit Logistica 2010. “Syngenta has changed its approach, insofar as we are now an integrated company,” Michael Kester explained. ”It is now our philosophy to seek to harness the knowledge we have in the areas of crop protection, biological control, seeds and resistance to diseases, in order that we may contribute to the need for sustainability,” Kester added.

Syngenta presented two new brassica products at Fruit Logistica: a unique small Savoy cabbage, which is only 6-7 centimetres in diameter and can be cooked in 4 minutes; and the Pink cabbage, special not only on account of its colour, but also because it does not “bleed”, making it easier to cut for the fresh-cut industry.

Visitors had the opportunity to view recent consumption studies, particularly of melons. These highlighted the acceptance of the new varieties and their segmentation. At the moment, work is being undertaken to find innovative solutions, rather than new products.

Regarding tomatoes, Syngenta presented its new snacking varieties, Angelle and Doimpolle, which have an excellent sugar/acidity balance. Visitors to the Syngenta stand were able to see the Kumato variety and the new Minikumato variety, tasty tomatoes with a very special colour.

Syngenta outlined the following key strategies in the seed segment:

Generating consumer insights by driving vegetable innovations
Growth solutions for the vegetable value chain by exploring market spaces, transport, storability, shelf attractiveness and year-round availability
Agricultural performance with a purpose: resistances, yield, adaptability and robustness, best-in-class testing and trailing, multiple locations and circumstances

And in the crop protection segment:

Ensuring quality and safety standards: integrated crop solutions
Responsible farming, enhancing biodiversity, safe practice and high productivity
Innovation in integrated crop systems, for example by responsible residue management

The 3-day fair enabled the 2,302 exhibitors from 71 countries and the numerous visitors to meet both existing and potential customers under the one roof, to observe what is happening in the market, source products, find new suppliers and set up talks and channels of communication. “Meeting our customers, listening to the world, hearing new ideas, observing new trends, noting people’s demands… all this opens our eyes to new concepts and ideas,” Michael Kester, Regional Head of Vegetables for Syngenta in EAME, commented.

Fruit Logistica 2010 not only provided an overview of global fruit and vegetable production and trade, it also focused on the economics of fresh produce in the context of 2009, a year of recession. “We have tried to see where the challenges lie and how the fresh produce sector can meet these challenges and capture more value for itself,” Lamusse observed. Traceability, innovation and food safety proved to be key topics at Fruit Logistica 2010.

“Although times are tough, the fresh fruit and vegetable business is very flexible, and this has helped it to cope with the crisis in 2009,” Lamusse continued. Strategies voiced at Fruit Logistica 2010 for dealing with the current situation included finding good partners and joining forces, branding fruit and vegetable products, and improving interaction with retailers.

Freshconex: Connecting fresh with convenience
In parallel with Fruit Logistica 2010, visitors also had the opportunity to attend Freshconex. Now in its third year, this is the only European trade fair for the fresh produce convenience sector, and it attracted 71 exhibitors from 15 countries. “Clearly, there is a strong movement towards fresh-cut, and this trend will gain in speed and importance in the future,” Lamusse concluded.

Mexico was the Fruit Logistica 2010 official partner country, on the strength of its status as a leading exporter of several fruit and vegetable varieties. Indeed, it is currently the tenth largest F&V exporter worldwide.

For more information about Fruitlogistica 2010, click here

Syngenta Tomatoes Today will publish more interviews related to Fruitlogistica 2010 in the forthcoming weeks: