World Fruit & Vegetable Show

The third World Fruit & Vegetable Show took place in the ExCeL London Exhibition Centre on 21st and 22nd October 2009.

Despite the then difficult economic climate, the organisers presented a larger, more professional show, which attracted a higher turnout of visitors than in previous years and resulted in far more exhibitors leaving happily with business contacts made and deals in the pipeline.

21 countries were represented by 118 exhibitors, sharing country pavilions and exhibiting as individuals.

The exhibition included a small forum programme, which allowed exhibitors to present information on their company or country to visitors and create good press opportunities.

Also drawing the crowds was the presentation of the Tesco Innovation Award which went to one of the smaller exhibitors, a company called Quickshine, which entered a new product they described as a Fruit & Veg SAVER. This Innovation was presented along with 20 other entries in the Tesco Innovation Award area and was selected by members of the Tesco technical team for produce.

Overall, the two day event seems to be coming of age and is now an event not to be missed by those within the international fruit and vegetable industry.

Information

Venue: ExCeL London Exhibition Centre
One Western Gateway
Royal Victoria Dock
London
E16 1XL

Market:

The fresh fruit and vegetable market in the UK is valued at over £7bn at current prices. The fresh fruit sector accounts for 38.1% of the overall market and is gaining share. Both the fruit and vegetable sectors have benefited from widespread publicity about the positive impact on health of consuming fruit and vegetables regularly. In the UK, a government drive to encourage people to eat more fruit and vegetables may be having a positive effect on the market. The Department of Health's Five-a-Day Programme, for example, is designed to encourage consumers to eat five 80 gram portions of fresh fruit and vegetables a day.

Despite a strong agricultural sector within the UK, 90% of fruit and 70% of specialist vegetables, have to be imported to match supply with demand, which continues to increase.

Figures 2009:

Exhibitors – 118

Visitors – 1426

Targeted predominately at the UK market, the show attracted key buyers from the following sectors:

Distributor 19.6%

Food service 12.7%

Food processor 6.2%

Supermarket 3.7%

Retail convenience / other 11.7%

Wholesale/ Cash & Carry 21.8%

Services 9.5%

Other 14.8%

Including major supermarkets in the UK market such as ASDA, Sainsbury, Tesco and Waitrose, wholesale traders from all the London markets and others countrywide and major distributors.

Publicity: The exhibition attracted many members of the press both from the UK and abroad including several international TV crews and a business correspondent from the BBC. In total 48 members of the press participated.

Pre-show Marketing: Advertising was placed in a number of national and international magazines and on trade websites. Our own database of contacts was increased from just over 10,000 to over 34,000 by the purchase of trade listings and our own call centre information. Constant activity on the ISN web site, a 10 week advert on the Fresh Plaza website and direct emailing to our own database, gave us our largest pre-registration to visit ever. Several trade magazines were selected to include invitations as an insert, 2-3 weeks prior to the show. This included titles such as ISN, Caterer & Hotelkeeper, The Convenience Magazine and The Grocer. In all over 50,000 inserts were distributed with 100,000 invitations.

Exhibitors from 21 countries in 2009

Algeria

Azerbaijan

Belgium

China

Egypt

Fiji

France

Germany

Italy

Jordan

Kenya

Kurdistan

Morocco

Netherlands

Pakistan

Portugal

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

Spain

Uganda

UK