medFEL, the essential meeting for the Fruit & Vegetable sector in France

Save the date for medFEL on 27th and 28th April 2022 at Perpignan exhibition center !

Sponsored by the Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée Regional Authority and organised by the regional economic development agency AD’OCC and SPAS Organisation, medFEL is a trading exhibition that facilitates  connections between exhibitors ans visitors, professionals in the Fruit and Vegetable sector, and a fertile source of information and content, with key highlights including the announcement of European harvest forecasts for summer fruits and a whole series of debates and round tables on topical issues.

MEDFEL 2022 CHALLENGES

In response to societal expectations and environmental challenges – more acute than ever following the public health crisis that we have all experienced – companies in the Fruit and Vegetable sector are today obliged to fulfil consumer demands related to sustainability, CSR, environmental protection, zero pesticide residue, etc.
medFEL’s mission? To bring together all the stakeholders in the Fruit and Vegetable sector from throughout the supply chain gathering 200 exhibitors during 2 days of show and conferences around these consumer trends and topical issues. And secondly, to allow professionals to present and discover products and services in connection with these essential themes: local sourcing, quality, environmental and health protection labels, new packaging, product quality certification laboratories, eco-aware logistics, etc.
medFEL is the only meeting of the Fruit and Vegetable sector to be held in France, bringing together professionals in the Fruit and Vegetable sector fully committed to sustainability initiatives!

CENTRE STAGE FOR INNOVATION

Beyond the pure reduction of food waste, all our consumption patterns should be revisited to have a genuine impact on the environment. In this mission, professionals in the fruit and vegetable sector, producers, processors, suppliers, brands and retailers have an obvious role to play and a leading responsibility. medFEL aims to support the fruit and vegetable market on these issues, in particular through a sector dedicated to young innovative companies offering solutions for the sustainable consumption of tomorrow. Discover the Lab’Innov by medFEL, a forum for innovation dedicated to start-ups involved in the challenges of the future: circular economy, zero waste, eco-friendly initiatives, sustainable development, CSR, etc.

2 LEADING NAMES AND A CULTIVATED PROGRAMME

Naturally, medFEL will be the venue for the announcement of European summer fruit harvest forecasts, with, live at the show, forecasts for apricot harvests, and anticipation on melon figures. Peach and nectarine harvest forecasts, meanwhile, will be revealed on Tuesday, 24th May 2022 online during a webinar as part of medFEL Tuesdays. But that’s not all!
This year, medFEL will be pleased to welcome two leading names: here’s the first one! David Djaïz, the essayist, lecturer at Sciences Po and author of Le nouveau modèle français will honour us with his presence on Wednesday, 27th April 2022 at a panel discussion on the theme of: “French agriculture, at a time of the competitive transition”

2 CONTENT-PACKED DAYS

The value proposition offered by medFEL also lies in series of talks and discussions on the sector’s challenges. Over the space of two days, medFEL offers a programme dealing with the commitment of the fruit and vegetable sector to sustainable development goals.
On 25 September 2015, the 193 Member States of the United Nations together pledged to jointly implement 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). These make up what is known as Agenda 2030. Farming sectors, including fruit and vegetables, are already involved in these sustainability approaches. medFEL 2022 will highlight the projects already launched, consider the new avenues to take, offer solutions and help overcome obstacles. Read on to find out more about the main themes of the round tables to be held in the Agora at the heart of the show:

The “Low Carbon” label, an opportunity or a new value creating label?

Presented by Florence Rabut, Journalist at Végétable
The “low carbon” label has been operational for three years. It offers certification to projects that sequester or avoid carbon emissions. The prerequisite for the certification of a project is to use a calculation method approved by the Ministry. What are the methods that already exist or are under development for the fruit and vegetable sector? Who can finance these projects and what are the available types of finance? How many projects have already been labelled in the farming sector, and for what result(s)? Is this a simple opportunity or a genuine development lever to profoundly transform farming practices, increase value along all the links in the chain, and more widely reach other territorial players?

Chemical inputs: heading to « all zero »?

Presented by Florence Rabut, Journalist at Végétable
What is the common denominator between sustainable farming approaches or labels such as HVE (high environmental value), zero-trace or trace-free, Demain la terre or Bee Friendly®? They all offer the guarantee of using less chemical inputs or none at all, and thus reduce environmental impact, while the AB label (organic agriculture) guarantees an absence of synthetic chemical treatments. Behind the reality of these positive approaches, an entire ecosystem is at work to identify, design, test and continually improve production systems towards new agricultural practices. What is the state of play in this area? Is reducing chemical inputs necessary and sufficient to pass as agro-ecology? What are the alternative solutions available, on stream or ahead, to cater to the substantial needs?

Soil, this other living being

Presented by Florence Rabut, Journalist at Végétable
After bees, “when soil dies, mankind’s days are numbered,” the saying could go! Soil has recovered a status following decades of neglect or, rather, indifference. Up until the fateful day when nothing grows properly anymore. Following in the footsteps of pioneering researchers, an entire movement is building in farming to re-incorporate a soil approach within production ecosystems. In practical terms, how can a positive agronomic approach be developed based on living soils? How far should we go in a soil approach, what and where are the approved models?

Environmental labelling and organic: controversy around the Ecoscore project

Presented by Olivier Masbou, Journalist and Emmanuel Eichner, Deputy Director at Alterbio
Environmental labelling is an approach that seeks to raise awareness of consumers to the environmental impacts of products and services. Well established in food sectors, it is mainly found in processed goods. How can this approach be adapted for fresh products, in particular fruit and vegetables?

THE ESSENTIAL MEETING FOR THE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SECTOR TAKES PLACE IN PERPIGNAN!

The idea: Think local, act global.

• By bringing operators from all French regions together in the same place for 2 days, especially producers of endemic varieties and products adapted to regional terroirs with a significant proportion of organic produce-
• By encouraging visits by purchasers from local distribution channels so that they can meet the suppliers from their region while discovering the general trends in the sector.

Visitor badge and exhibitor registration on www.medfel.com