• A 96 square metre stand, organised by Infecar, will bring the island’s produce to this fair, one of the most important in the world for the fruit and vegetable sector.
• Around 360 fruit and vegetable companies from Gran Canaria will take part in this event, grouped together in the Agrícola del Norte cooperative, the federation of exporters (Fedex) and the independent company (Conagrican).

Gran Canaria will have its own stand at the 2022 edition of Fruit Attraction, one of the most important fruit and vegetable fairs in the world, which brought together more than 65,000 professionals and 110 countries in its last edition. Today at Infecar, the Minister for the Primary Sector and Food Sovereignty, Miguel Hidalgo, together with the Managing Director of the Society for the Economic Promotion of Gran Canaria (SPEGC), Cosme García, and the Director General of Infecar, Natalia Santana, accompanied by representatives of the exhibiting companies, presented the stand and activities for this fair, which will be held at the Madrid-Ifema exhibition centre from 4 to 6 October.

The island’s fruit and vegetable products will have their own exhibition space at the event. This stand, according to Councillor Miguel Hidalgo, “responds to the demand from island producers who, with more than 100 years of experience exporting some of them, want to make themselves directly visible to potential buyers”.

Gran Canarian exhibitors

Around 360 companies will be present on the stand, either individually or in groups, which together produce more than 73 million kilos of fruit and vegetables annually on around 890 hectares. An independent company -Conagrican-, together with more than 350 companies from the Las Palmas Federation of Fruit and Vegetable Exporters (Fedex) and the Cooperativa Agrícola del Norte, will be exhibiting 322 kilos of fruit and vegetable products: banana (68 kg), round and cherry tomato (42 kg), cucumber (20 kg), mango (16 kg), papaya (120 kg), avocado (34 kg), tropical pineapple (18 kg) and coffee from the Agaete Valley (4 kg). The annual production of these 350 companies participating in the stand is 75,000 tons, on 950 hectares of cultivated land.

Together with them, the public company of the Cabildo, the Sociedad de Promoción Económica de Gran Canaria (SPEGC), will present the opportunities and incentives to innovate in the green economy in Gran Canaria.

The stand and trade fair activities

The stand is divided into several areas: display counters, meeting tables, meeting room and warehouse. During the days of the fair, along with the meetings and commercial activity, the product will be exhibited and tasted in different preparations: milkshakes, cocktails and coffee.

On Tuesday 4, after the opening of the fair, the Regional Minister for the Primary Sector and Food Sovereignty, Miguel Hidalgo, will be in charge of opening the stand and welcoming the attendees. On the same day, at 18.00 hours, the Gran Canarian chef Juan Santiago from the Hestia restaurant will prepare a live tropical gazpacho with mango and fermented strawberries, in the ‘Factoría Chef’ space that this fair dedicates to gastronomy.

On Wednesday the 5th, at 11.00 a.m., there will be a talk on “Marketing in the Agricultural Sector: the eternal nightmare of producers”, given by the company Orpyme, which forms part of the Programme of strategic actions in the Primary Sector in the municipality of La Aldea.

On the 6th at 12.30 pm, the Society for Economic Promotion of Gran Canaria will take part in the ‘Innova Forum’, to present the opportunities and incentives for green innovation in Gran Canaria, in which the competitive advantages of the island will be discussed: optimal climatic conditions for cultivation; incentives for investment and reduced taxation; access to experimental and productive land; among other issues.

The stand has been organised entirely by Infecar, with a total joint investment of €95,000 provided by Spegc and the Regional Ministry of the Primary Sector and Food Sovereignty, as part of the fulfilment of one of the objectives of the Strategic Plan for the Primary Sector of Gran Canaria: to raise the profile of local produce both on and off the island.