Review 2018
MEDFEL 2018: 250 French and international exhibitors
Organized by the Occitania/Pyrénées-Méditerranée Region and the AD’OCC regional economic development agency, MedFEL, which was held from 24 to 26 April 2018 in Perpignan, brought together 250 exhibitors from all over France.
“The number of exhibitors is more or less the same as in the previous edition,” explains Chantal Passat, head of the agri-food sector at AD’OCC and president of the MedFEL, “but this year, many of the leading brands in the French fruit and vegetable sector were present and from all the French regions. The event’s presence throughout the national territory is confirmed”.
On the visitors’ side, this edition recorded a 5% drop in attendance (6,037 visitors), largely due to the strikes of Air France and SNCF “but the entire professional community of the fruit and vegetable sector was there”, confirms Chantal Passat, who is delighted to have been able to bring in the 110 international VIP buyers recruited by AD’OCC from all over the world.
The event generated 3,534 BtoB meetings, reinforcing the image of a MedFEL that is both the largest French fruit and vegetable event and a major international business centre.
An event on a human scale, a quality visitor experience, a BtoB meeting, a rich conference programme, a growing focus on innovation and the organic sector are all positive indicators of a balance sheet that should allow us to calmly reflect on the evolution to be given to MedFEL.
For Chantal Passat: “We must do everything possible to ensure that the event is the major downstream event in the organic fruit and vegetable sector. There has already been a lot done in 2018, but this positioning must be accentuated with an organic offer and official signs of even greater quality and origin in order to make the most of our regional agriculture”.
The dates for the next edition of the MedFEL have not yet been finalized. The event is expected to take place in April. “We are still wondering about the duration of the event,” admits Chantal Passat, who would see MedFEL go from three to two days to adjust as best she could to the length of time a visitor would be present.
It should be noted that this year again, 2,300 kg of fruit and vegetables were recovered after the event by the association A.N.D.E.S., which distributed them to solidarity grocery stores, restos du coeur, etc.
