Macfrut, the organizer of the world’s largest fruit and vegetable fair, has launched the Macfrut Digital fair scheduled to take place in Cesena, Italy between September 8-10.

The fair, which is the first and only digital trade fair for the fresh produce industry is being held in partnership with the Italian Trade Agency (ICE), and seeks to showcase fresh fruits and vegetable produce from across the globe.

The fair has over 530 exhibition spaces, 40 per cent of which will be hosted by foreign companies, and has so far registered 600 buyers from all over the world with over 4,000 visitors registered.

A number of players in the fruit and vegetable sector within the agribusiness industry in Ghana will be taking part in Macfrut Digital thanks to the support provided by ICE and the United Nations Organization for Industrial Development (UNIDO).

Benefits to accrue to participants include an opportunity to showcase their produce to the world and have direct connection to hundreds of buyers from around the world.

Renzo Piraccini, President of Macfrut, explains: ‘We have embarked on a new adventure and we can safely say that the fruit and vegetable sector has responded extremely well. We believe that we are pioneering a project that has huge potential, which was unimaginable until a few months ago. The fact that the health emergency is ongoing, resulting in a level of uncertainty at international level, demonstrates that we made the right decision, which has changed the way we approach the sector.’

Exhibitors, including those from Ghana, will have a privileged channel where they will be able to “communicate” with the over 600 buyers that have already registered on the platform and organize B2B meetings. Macfrut Digital will offer two levels of interaction: one for visitors, who will be able to visit the virtual stands, communicate with each other, ask for information and make contact to schedule business meetings, and the other for exhibitors, who will be able to schedule B2B meetings with buyers through a programmed agenda.

Dr. Alessandro Gerbino, the Head of ITA for Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, has implored vegetable and fruit producers to take advantage of Macfrut Digital to expand and grow their businesses. According to him “every misfortune presents an opportunity and we believe the decision of Macfrut to go virtual this year offers an excellent chance for the thousands of vegetable and fruit producers in Africa to take part to showcase their produce to the world.”

The event can be accessed from any Internet device (PC or smartphone), while B2B meetings will be accessible online but only from PC, via a dedicated link provided by organizers of the event.

How Macfrut Digital will take place

Macfrut Digital will consist of two areas: the Exhibition and the Forum. Besides buyers, who will benefit from an exclusive programme, other sector professionals can also participate by registering on the macfrutdigital.com website (free of charge).

Visitors from all over the world will be able to access and participate in this three-day virtual trade fair by using a personal device (PC, tablet or smartphone).

Once logged in, they will be able to view an interactive map broken down by product sector and explore all the virtual “stands” to find out more about each exhibitor’s product range, request information and schedule live streamed B2B meetings.