Madrid – In light of the success and lively activity on the Fruit Attraction LIVEConnect platform during its first month in operation, the organisation has decided to keep it operational throughout November and December. After this initial phase, it will be kept open permanently, providing the international fruit and vegetable sector with a year-round resource for information and business relationships, with networking opportunities and targeted content.
This extension will be free for registered participants and it will give the community many more opportunities to make contacts and enjoy the numerous technical conferences – 228 sessions with 177 speakers – held in October. More than 1,900 users registered for these panel discussions and presentations, which included the World Fresh Forum (China, Japan, the United States, India and the United Arab Emirates); Biofruit Congress; Biotech Attraction: Potential of agrobiology for the new agriculture; Fresh Food Logistic Summit; Competition from third countries in the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit; Cut flowers and ornamental plants. Effects of Covid-19 and the current outlook, and the Women’s Forum, which recognised and welcomed two women to Fruit Attraction: Rocío Medina, executive president of Grupo Medina, and Ana Hernández, head of R&D&I in the Production department of the Paloma Group.
Over the next two months, the community will be able to continue finding leads, networking, holding meetings, video calls and keep working with those new contacts. From 1 to 31 October, a community of almost 7,000 members was formed, and it is expected to grow exponentially in the coming weeks, given the lively, dynamic activity on the platform. More than 15,250 contacts have been made, 40,814 messages exchanged and more than 500 meetings held using the platform, as well as 186 video calls.
In addition, during the first month of activity on the Fruit Attraction LIVEConnect platform there were 41,235 clicks on the list of participating exhibitors, made up of 433 companies, as well as 26,354 in the Community Network; 19,930 in the Conference Programme, and 17,492 in the Exhibitors Sales Force and Staff section.
Fruit Attraction LIVEConnect gives users the opportunity to learn more about the 160 horticultural products and services participating in the Innovation Hub and the 20 finalists of the Innovation Hub Awards. The awards have two categories: Fresh Produce and F&V Industry, a section that has already received 5,371 clicks.Users of the platform can also watch the candidates presenting their winning products: a unique type of broccoli (REDI product, by BEJO IBERICA), the winner of the Fresh Produce category and the Hybrid Footprint Certification (H3) project by AGROCOLOR,the winner in its category F&V Industry.
The organisers are on a mission to consolidate their revitalisation strategies to strengthen the quantitative and qualitative aspects of community members, amplify international coverage, encourage learning, and analyse the results of the surveys in order to offer the entire industry a superb digital global networking platform specialising in the fruit and vegetable sector.
In the words of the director of Fruit Attraction, Raúl Calleja, “because Fruit Attraction is an instrument at the service of the commercial revitalisation of the international fruit and vegetable sector, we must be able to support and contribute to this process of sales hybridisation by providing tools that facilitate relational transformation. We are doing this by including contacts, content, products, companies, and much more in a single platform. Naturally, there are certain irreplaceable advantages to face-to-face contacts, but Fruit Attraction LIVEConnect is strengthening and complementing them with functionalities lacking in the in-person events. Face-to-face and remote interactions are not the same, but they can complement, strengthen and reinforce each other. Each user must be able to get the most from this new platform.”
Fruit Attraction LIVEConnect was launched on 1 October with an opening ceremony presided over by Luis Planas, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Fruit Attraction 2021, organised by IFEMA and FEPEX, will be held on 5-7 October.
