Asia Fruit Logistica grows by a third
Health and convenience
New products to appeal to consumer trends towards health and convenience across Asia are a feature of this year’s offerings.
Major Spanish fresh produce group Unica, a first-time exhibitor, sees Asia Fruit Logistica, as an ideal opportunity to showcase its premium retail offer, which includes its Ready, Veggi, Go! Snacking line. Leading Chinese importer Lantao, back again with a bigger booth, will promote the Canadian snack-sized Cutecumbers from Mucci Farms. Singaporean company SunMoon will unveil two new brand-line extensions to its range of fresh convenience products, while Indian grower-shipper INI Farms, which has seen increasing demand for pomegranates in South East Asia, will promote its pre-packed arils.
Elsewhere, Australian exporter Harrowsmiths International and partner Nutrafruit will showcase the red-fleshed Queen Garnet Plum. Developed by the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the supersweet plum is being touted as the world’s next superfruit, due to its high antioxidant levels. At the China pavilion, Joyvio, the agribusiness arm of major corporation Legend Holdings, will promote red, yellow and green varieties of kiwifruit, as well as blueberries.
New varieties
Varietal innovation is a strong theme of this year’s event, with new apple and pear varieties to the fore. Mr Apple, New Zealand’s largest vertically integrated apple grower-packer-exporter, will be sampling Diva, a high-red colour apple with “excellent sweetness and crunch”. France will kick off its apple season at the event, and Blue Whale will showcase two new and exclusive varieties Lili and Nova. Apple-Bird, another French exporter, will promote its Antarès apple, “a fairly new product in Asia”, as well as Sweet Sensation, a red-blush, drip-free sweet pear variety.
Cutting-edge technologies
Innovations on show at Asia Fruit Logistica, span the entire supply chain, with technology companies well represented. Major sorting and grading manufacturer MAF Roda will display its ‘Softnes-scan’ for kiwifruit, peaches and tomatoes. “It’s an innovative technology that can separate soft fruits from normal ones,” explains MAF Roda’s Jean Christophe Couzin.
Meanwhile, New Zealand-based post-harvest equipment specialist Compac will have a dual lane sorting (DLS) solution on show. “The dual lane sorter is ideal for packing operations that require a cost- and space-efficient method of packing at high volumes,” says Compac’s Clair Porteous.
Colourful campaigns
Some 21 national pavilions will feature at Asia Fruit Logistica, and several industries will be launching new campaigns at the event.
Italians will be out in force once again, with more than 25 exhibitors taking part. Freshness from Europe, a new project from Italy’s leading fresh produce marketing and research agency Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli (CSO), will make its international debut at ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA. The big-budget initiative replaces European Flavours, which over the past few years has been the focus for CSO’s spending to raise the profile of Italian fresh fruit and vegetables in overseas countries. Asian markets – particularly China and Hong Kong – are a key focus for Freshness from Europe, according to CSO’s international development manager Federico Milanese.
New Zealand is also set to make a bigger splash this year. Not only has its pavilion almost doubled in size compared with last year, it also has a new look drawing inspiration from the nation’s Maori heritage. “We have a specially designed Maori Meeting House that is closely aligned to our New Zealand culture,” explains chairman of Horticulture New Zealand Julian Raine.
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