3pl ~ news

Fruit Logistica
Rome - (Ign) - Italy will be a protagonist at the next edition of Fruit Logistica (www.fruitlogistica.com), the great international show dedicated to the sector of fruit and vegetable trading that will be held in Germany from 2 to 4 February at the exhibition centre of the Berlin fair. It will be a protagonist like every year, moreover. In 2004 there were 230 Italian exhibitors out of a total of 1350, and for this 14th edition, Italian products are represented by over 250 companies, together with those taking part in the "collective" organised by the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade. This, then, is an appointment of great importance. Fruit Logistica has assumed a role of growing significance in the international panorama of shows dedicated to the food sector. Last year, there were in fact almost 30,000 professional visitors, two thirds of which came from 96 different countries. This is the loss a showcase of much wider dimention than Germany or even the European Union, and now involves buyers from all continents, and exhibitors from an equally wide range of countries. This, then, is a global scenario, in which Italian products are at the forefront, representing a benchmark in certain sectors and in any case always positioned at the top end of the market.

Italy in fact exports around € 4 billion worth of fruit and vegetables per year, occupying a position of absolute leadership in many sectors, such as summer fruits (over half of all peaches sold every year in Europe are Italian), apples and table grapes. And thanks to this position, over the decades Italian companies have also been able to develop more up-to-date techniques of product packaging, conservation and transport, in order to offer all the markets, in Europe and outside, the best of domestic production in ideal conditions of preservation. A complete sector has thus been developed, with Italian companies occupying a position at the forefront. The sector covers the entire lifecycle of the product, starting with farming techniques, designed to optimise quantity and quality of the yield from farming ground in function of specific climatic conditions. It also covers machinery for working the land and for aiding or automating the picking of fruit and vegetables, as well as automatic systems for crate packing, conditioning and packaging of the finished product. This, then, is a highly integrated production system in which there is maximum attention to final product quality and which allows Italian companies to occupy the top end of the market and the areas with highest profitability throughout Europe.