Some fifty Catalan fruit companies show their products at Fruit Attraction in Madrid

Under the brand "Catalonia, where fruit is culture", Prodeca organised the participation of some twenty Catalan fruit companies on a single stand at FRUIT ATTRACTION 2021 , held in Madrid from 5 to 7 October, representing producers, marketers, importers and exporters. The broad representation of Catalan companies at Fruit Attraction covered every family of fruit grown in Catalonia: stone fruit, pome fruit, sweet fruit and citrus.

The Secretary for Food, Carmel Mòdol, and the Director General of Agri-food Businesses, Quality and Gastronomy, Joan Gòdia, visited the fair and the Catalan exhibitors accompanied by Prodeca's managing director, Ramon Sentmartí. 

In line with recent years, the aim is to help companies improve their positioning in foreign markets, establish new trade contacts and spread information about Catalonia's fruit sector among visiting operators. Hence the participating Catalan companies present themselves at Fruit Attraction as part of one of southern Europe's most important fresh produce distribution markets.
 
Catalonia, a fruit export powerhouse

Fresh fruit is a strategic sector for Catalonia's agri-food economy and one of the pillars of its internationalisation. Thanks to a highly diverse area and a mild Mediterranean climate, Catalonia offers a wide variety of fruit with one unique feature: farming is carried out under an integrated production system. 35% of the fruit grown in Catalonia comes from integrated production. 

Catalonia produces almost a million tonnes of fruit a year (962,201 in 2020) and is the autonomous community that grows the most sweet fruit. Catalan apples and pears account for 40% of Spanish output. Stone fruit is also significant: around 20% of the peaches and nectarines grown in Spain are Catalan.
 
Internationally, Catalonia is one of Europe's leading sweet fruit growing areas, and is also the world's 9th largest producer of peaches and nectarines, 18th of pears and 37th of apples. Catalonia exports 83% of its fruit (relative to output) to foreign markets and is present in the most demanding European and international chains in terms of quality, traceability and food safety.

The fruit and vegetable sector (Prodeca index) was the third largest agri-food export sector in both value and volume in 2020 (802,412 tonnes and €857.49 million respectively).

Compared with 2019, fruit export value rose 11.06% while volume fell 8.89%, raising the value-to-volume export ratio by 18.37%.

In 2020 Catalonia exported 70.95% of Spain's total apple exports, 56.21% of pears, 43.39% of peaches and 34.21% of nectarines.

Over the last 5 years (2015-2020) fruit exports have risen 17.72% in value , while volume has fallen 9.04%. These two figures show that we are adding value to our fruit in international markets, with a 25.46% increase in the export value-to-volume ratio.

Over the last 5 years, the number of regular fruit and vegetable exporters has grown 13.28%, from 369 in 2015 to 418 companies in 2020.

As for the main importers of Catalan fruit, the European Union is the natural market for European fruit and where most of the world's fruit and vegetable producers send their exports. Many producing countries aim to grow ever more, well above their domestic demand, in order to sell in Europe, where they enjoy non-reciprocal preferential treatment when it comes to receiving European fruit.

Germany is the main destination for Catalonia's fruit exports. By sector, the main destinations for Catalan peaches and nectarines are Western European EU countries such as Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium and the United Kingdom. However, several Eastern European countries — also EU members (Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, etc.) — are a large market, and some Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, etc.) have been growing in recent years.

For pears, the main destinations are Italy, followed by Brazil, France, Germany, Morocco, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Portugal and Israel.

Finally, for apples, the main destination is France; to a lesser extent there are also exports to Portugal, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, the Netherlands, Colombia and the United Kingdom.

Fruit Attraction, the sector's big trade event

This was the 13th edition of this international fruit and vegetable trade fair, a major trade platform that for three days fosters intense business relations between companies seeking to boost their promotional activity and the international distribution channel.

The fair brought together a total of 1,300 companies from 44 countries; 42,000m² net of fruit and vegetable produce and the whole value chain; eight IFEMA MADRID halls; and accredited trade visitors from 98 countries.

The 2020 edition, given the global pandemic, was held virtually via the FRUIT ATTRACTION LIVEconnect platform, a digital tool that enhances and complements the in-person event with new functions, each reinforcing the other. This year the organisers are reviving this hybrid approach, conceived as a networking space generating contacts and business opportunities, sessions and debates among operators in the international fruit and vegetable community.