Macfrut, the international fruit and vegetable fair, recorded a record post-pandemic edition and will allow Cesena Fiera to close the best balance sheet ever this year, with a turnover of over 6 million euros, compared to 5.3 million in the year. 2019 pre-Covid. All this while the major competing global trade shows, from Fruit Logistica in Berlin to Fruit Attraction in Madrid – trade fairs that attract thousands of exhibitors and 80-90,000 visitors in standard years – announce changes at the top in the wake of skipped events and disappointing performances.
Attendance at 32,600
The first international fruit and vegetable fair in attendance, after more than a year and a half of virtual relationships, recorded over the three days (7-9 September) at the Rimini Expo Center 32,600 visitors (38 thousand before the pandemic, a decrease of 14 %). “For being a small niche fair, Macfrut achieved an excellent result in the 2021 edition with numbers unthinkable until a few months earlier and the combination with Fieravicola, the European poultry fair (another 7,500 visitors), gave further prestige. to the territory as a pole of agrifood.
Lean team great results
We are a bit of an exception in the trade fair scene – explains the president Renzo Piraccini – because we have a very lean and super-specialized team that works on these segments all year round (14 people, of which 11 work in agricultural supply chains, ed), we do a fair that we do not hold in Cesena but in Rimini by renting the largest spaces in the Ieg district. And even in full Covid we did not stop and we created a real digital fair that allowed us to close the 2020 budget in surplus. Not only in 37 years of activity the Cesena Fair has never closed the accounts in the red, but in 2021 we will celebrate the best turnover in history ».
The care of the contents
Does this mean that dimensions are not so strategic even when it comes to international trade shows, after the pandemic experience and in the face of green demands that lead to reducing long-distance travel and crowded ocean crowds? «Our bet is small-scale professional events, with curated, clear and thick content, accompanied by digital services that enhance innovation and internationalization, fairs that can be visited completely in a couple of days. The number of visitors counts up to a certain point, it counts instead that those who arrive are qualified and motivated operators ”, replies Piraccini.
Romagna reference point
And Romagna is making its way as a reference point for the agrifood supply chain throughout the Mediterranean and North African basin, “not only to do business looking for buyers but to understand where the sector is going, from mechanical technologies to agronomic solutions, from packaging to organic techniques », adds the president.