COLOMBIA, fruit powerhouse at Fruit Attraction
For the 7th consecutive year, ProColombia, together with the Colombian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism, will be present at Fruit Attraction, in this edition with a delegation of nine companies that will show the best of the Colombian business network with a focus on bananas, avocados and exotic fruits, at the fair that will take place from 3 to 5 October at IFEAMA Madrid and that will bring together more than 90,000 potential customers from 135 countries.
The companies present at stand 4D10 will be Colombia Paradise, Caribbean Exotics, Frutas Comerciales, Uniban, Inversiones Viagali Zomac, Isashii, Solariega, Novacampo and Nativa Produce.
In addition, as part of the fair, a mission of 20 production companies from the department of Antioquia will travel to Spain that week on a learning mission that will include a visit to the port of Algeciras, where they will learn first-hand about the logistics and processes of one of Spain's leading ports, visit Mercamadrid, the largest distribution, marketing, processing and logistics platform for fresh food in Spain, and make guided tours and strategic appointments at Fruit Attraction. And another two Colombian companies will attend the meeting with the German Import Promotion Desk.
Colombia is the country of beauty, understood in its multiple dimensions such as natural landscapes, cultural diversity, gastronomic richness and the warmth of its people. A country that has export potential in a wide variety of fruits, including uchuva, gulupa, granadilla, avocado, tree tomato (tamarillo), sugar mango, banana, passion fruit, feijoa, kiwi, baby banana, curuba, lulo, pitahaya, soursop, blueberry, guava pear, mangosteen and Tahitian lemon.
A sustainable offer that supports the development of the regions
There are several reasons that make Colombia an ideal international fruit supplier. For example, according to the FAO, it is one of the seven countries with more than 50% of the land with agricultural potential and vocation that is not yet used for agriculture.
In addition to its wide availability of land to increase fruit and vegetable production, it has a varied and internationally positioned supply: in the world, Colombia is the second largest exporter of flowers, the first in carnations; it is the second largest exporter of green coffee, the first of Arabica coffee; the fourth largest exporter of bananas; and the sixth largest exporter of palm oil.
Colombia's fruit exports to the world are in full growth: in the last three years they have increased by an average of 8.2% and Spain is one of the key markets as it is one of the world's top 10 exporters.
And because it is a tropical country located in the equatorial zone, the Colombian territory benefits from permanent luminosity, which allows fruit crops to be harvested all year round. Because of this, Colombian fruits have an excellent quality in organoleptic terms with one of the best colours, flavours, aromas, soluble content and BRIX value, when compared to products from other countries in the subtropical region.
For all these reasons, it is a key sector in the Colombian economy. According to data from the Colombian Farmers' Society, fruit cultivation generates around 765,000 direct jobs and 1.8 million indirect jobs.
These figures can be increased. To this end, the Colombian government has implemented a strategy of rural development, and of stabilising and transforming territories historically affected by violence with greater production in sectors such as fruit, which has great export potential for the South American country.