"We have seen in Macfrut 2021 a great enthusiasm from exhibitors" said Renzo Piraccini, Macfrut President

Macfrut President shares his enthusiasm after 1st show after Covid : « We are very happy ! ». As Macfrut show just closes its door, Fructidor met its President Mr Renzo Pirraccini to draw a first report of one of the first show after pandemic.

 

« We have seen in Macfrut 2021 a great enthusiasm from exhibitors that I have not seen in last editions of Macfrut. To give you an idea, I have not seen any unsatisfied exhibitor during this edition! We are very happy.»

 

 

Fructidor : We have seen less exhibitors and a huge representation of equipment part. What are figures concerning exhibitors?

 

« The name of Macfrut comes from “Macchine per la Frutta”. Since the beginning, it has always been a pillar for the show. But our exhibitors represent all different parts of the fruit supply chain from scientific research to the fruit and vegetable itself and to solutions to market the produce.

 

Exhibition space is down by 18%, and attendance down by 25%. We anticipated such trend due to covid fears and restrictions some may have to travel. But there has been a big quality in attendance. The visitors that came to the show were really interested and curious to find solutions. This has been confirmed by all exhibitors.

 

Macfrut is a show with great variety, and this is our strength. We do not have the massive production that Spain or Germany has. But the show is not only offering business opportunities, it’s also an opportunity for visitors to understand in which direction the industry is going. One of our key advantage is the conferences and educational keynotes that we organize during the show. »

 

 

Fructidor :  Africa has always be one of your focus. Are you on the same line?

 

« We have made great investments to attract African key players, because this is a great opportunity for our exhibitors to export equipment in these dynamic regions. This continent knows a strong dynamism and for lots of equipment companies, it’s the right time to approach these markets. Among delegations, we had groups of growers and exporters coming from Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda, etc… unfortunately the groups from Senegal and Angola could not make the trip due to covid restrictions. 

 

In the contrary of other shows, we do organize events and conferences during the year long. So, we keep a strong connection with our exhibitors. »

 

 

Fructidor : As event organizer, the Covid period should have been very stressful ?

 

« Actually, we are an exception in the sector of events organisers in Europe, as we are one of the event that has closed the year 2020 with benefits, thanks to Macfrut Digital. This year for Macfrut is a very good year.

 

We propose to our customers 2 ways to attend Macfrut : the physical show and the Macfrut Digital. The first day : China day was a 100% digital day, for the other days the show was going on both physical and online. We do not have yet statistics to share, but what we heard from exhibitors that it was difficult to manage both online and on on site, because of visitors coming on stand. 

 

The more structured exhibitors participated both online and physical, but we also have cases where exhibitors chose to participate only online or only physical. For instance, we had 111 Chinese exhibitors online to participate in the Chinese day. »

 

 

Fructidor : Will you combine online and physical show in 2022 ? 

 

« The strategic line of Macfrut 2022 will be discussed with our exhibitors. We are in close contact with our exhibitors, and we will collect feedbacks during next weeks. However, we believe that online events have some opportunities to offer, but we still need to determine. »

 

 

 

Fructidor :  As a conclusion, any other point to highlight ? 

 

« We are very happy, because our exhibitors are happy. We live in a different situation with this pandemic situation and I do not think that the covid is finished. We propose a human-sized fair and this is an advantage in comparison with the biggest events as Berlin or Madrid. »