Macfrut

Cesena, 11 May 2021 – “Our trade fair will be the first to be held on site after coming to a standstill for a year and a half. There is a growing desire to resume business, and this is a great opportunity for the entire industry to work together as a team and give the fruit and vegetable sector a new lease of life.” These were the words spoken by Renzo Piraccini, President of Macfrut, the international trade fair for the fresh produce industry that will take place from 7 to 9 September 2021 at the Rimini Expo Centre (Italy).

Cesena Fiera, the event organiser, has been working non-stop over the last few months: 15 virtual presentations were organised for Macfrut 2021, linking up with different parts of the world, which in the next few days will be followed by presentations with Colombia (18 May), Peru (20 May) and Chile (24 May).

“It may seem a paradox, but the international travel ban turned out to be a major opportunity for us to hold a large number of virtual presentations,” Piraccini adds. “It would have been unthinkable to organise so many events all around the world in such a short space of time.”

One of the distinctive features of the upcoming edition of Macfrut is that it will combine a virtual format with a face-to-face format.

“The current situation has brought into focus the importance of human interaction, which is why it has become necessary to resume relationships at an on-site event. We have been on standstill for over a year and a half, which is quite a long time. Now that trade fairs are reopening and that people can start travelling again thanks to the large-scale vaccination campaign, Macfrut is the perfect opportunity to resume these relations.”

Macfrut has an ace up its sleeve, i.e. the Macfrut Special Edition: a brand new format that combines the know-how of the 37 editions held for sector professionals thus far with a groundbreaking online experience, which was successfully introduced with the first edition of Macfrut Digital held in 2020.

Renzo Piraccini concludes:

“Macfrut Digital is the only fully digital trade fair dedicated to the fruit and vegetable sector, something which has never been done before. It is not a marketplace, but a three-day business event for the sector, hosted on a virtual platform. We want to offer this experience to everyone, combined with the on-site event. Perhaps major conventional trade fairs have run their course and, possibly, hybrid physical and digital events will be organised locally where participants can link up with distant countries. It is too early to draw any conclusions, but it is clear that this is the direction we are heading in. Macfrut 2021 is a great opportunity.”