The world elite of the Avocado and Mango industry at the Tropical Fruit Congress

Preparations are fully underway for the first edition of the Tropical Fruit Congress, the only European summit on avocados and mangoes to be hosted at Macfrut, the international trade fair for the fruit and vegetable industry. Three months before the event, more than 100 participants from all over the world have already registered, including the main producer countries (Chile, Mexico, California and Spain, the first in Europe) and leading importers (first of all, the Netherlands). The unique nature of this two-day event - the first of its kind in Europe, to be held at the Rimini Expo Centre (10-11 May) - and its illustrious guest speakers make it one of the top events of an increasingly international Macfrut 2018. In the last few years, the interest in exotic fruits has increased exponentially, to the extent that exotic fruit consumption in Europe is growing at double-digit rates. As far as avocados are concerned, for example, 505,369 tonnes were consumed in the 2016-2017 period, with an average growth of 26.5% compared to the previous season, with peaks in Belgium (+146%), Luxembourg (+113%) and Spain (+41%) (reprocesseddata from WAO). In this general scenario, Italy could very well play a key role. In particular Sicily, the region where the avocado and mango market has found its niche and where there is still a great potential for growth as well as opportunities for the entire agricultural supply chain. Going back to the Summit, all Congress participants will be provided with a Yearbook complete with data on mango and avocado production and consumption, with a special section dedicated to the key players in the supply chain. In fact, leading professionals in the exotic fruit industry will be attending Macfrut. Among these, Xavier Equihua - CEO of WAO (World Avocado Organization), Leonardo Ortega - Research Director of the National Mango Board (USA), Carlos Crisosto of the University of Davis (California), Daniel José Bustamante Canny - President of Pro Hass (Peru), Enrique Colilles - General Manager of Trops (Spain), and Emiliano Escobedo - CEO of Hass Avocado Board (California). As part of the Forum, two round tables will provide opportunities for discussion for sector professionals from all over the world: Raffaele Spreafico - Manager of Spreafico, Luca Garletti - CEO of Mc Garlet, Ulrich Spieckermann - CEO of Eurogroup, Adrielle Dankier - Commercial Director at Nature’s Pride, Norman Van der Gaag - Manager of Aweta Group, Arrie De Kock - Researcher at Experico, Jetta Van den Berg - President of Savid, Alessandro Turatti - President of Turatti North America, and Adriana Senior Mojica - President of CCI Colombia. InfoThe event is open to a limited number of participants, up to 300 people. The registration fee is 100 Euros. To register, please go to www.tropicalfruitcongress.com The Tropical Fruit Congress is organised by Cesena Fiera. So far, the sponsors of the event are AgroFresh, Aweta, Frunet, Ghelfi, Graziani, Mc Garlet, Nespak, Sermac, Spreafico, Tr Turoni, Turatti and World Avocado Organization. For further information, please visit: www.macfrut.com ContactsElena Vincenzi/Luca SperoniInternational press office Macfrut c/o fruitecomTel. 0039-059- 7863894