Dr. Alicia Namesny, Spain (anamesny@ediho.es), February 2009.
Fruit Logistica was held in Berlin from February 5-7, 2009. This is a fair with a great power to bring people in; during the three days “all” global fruit and vegetable traders meet, as well as the international suppliers of postharvest materials. We also start to see some seed materials.
The impressions coming from Spain, where the atmosphere of discourage, are that “the world continues to turn”, although of course with the concern that in a globalized world it is difficult to avoid having islands that remain unaffected by crises. The most popular opinion among exhibitors was that perhaps there was a lower number of visitors, but in any case of better quality.
For fruit and vegetables, according to what happens with the handling and conditioning of fresh-cut, last year the consumer tended to reward the homogeneity of products. For example, in Italy, fewer salad mixtures were sold than bags with vegetables ready for consumption or vegetables presented alone, which would mean a slight shrinkage of the market. But the trend to eat with convenience is unstoppable and there are a lot of areas of potential growth for all markets. And even more so in fruit, where the consumption of something ready-made is just beginning. Several companies presented their “liquid fruit”, drinks made with 100% fruit with about 14 days of shelf life and without preservatives.
In relation to the technology of handling, preservation and packaging, companies continue to move toward “post-harvest precision”. An example of this is the equipment presented by Besseling Group, capable of measuring parts per million (ppm) of ozone present in a room, or Absoger’s equipment for ethylene, in its two versions (fixed or portable), which measures the gas with a precision of 0.01 ppm. The packages are diversifying, looking to adjust to the needs or preferences of consumer groups defined with increasing precision.
The need to market a better tasting fruit is all the rage. Evidence of this is the nomination, from among 10 new products presented at this fair, of the Turoni’s laptop equipment, based on the work of Dr. Costa from Italy, to assess the grade of ripening of fruit in a non-destructive way.