FRUIT LOGISTICA 2010: QUALITY BUSINESS

“In the fresh produce business you need trust and what the fair does essentially is provide that personal bridge”

Interview with Gérald Lamusse, Global Brand Manager of Fruit Logistica 2010

During Fruit Logistica 2010, Global Brand Manager Gérald Lamusse explained to Brassicas Today the importance of attending the fair and Freshconex. Over 2,300 exhibitors decided to join Fruit Logistica 2010, whose main objective, according to Lamusse, was to bring together buyers and sellers to secure quality business by creating a personal bridge that enhances trust.

Q. Which are the main topics of Fruit Logistica 2010?
A. Fruit Logistica is a very simple concept: to bring together buyers and sellers where the central topic is always business – quality business.
As far as this year is concerned, the focus is being placed on the product price elements of fresh produce, bearing in mind how challenging a year 2009 has been for the whole industry. Our role was to help the produce sector analyse where the challenges have come from and how fresh produce growers can meet these challenges and capture more value for themselves.
Another key issue has been traceability and the food safety aspect. Besides those, the other major point at Fruit Logistica was innovation. With the Innovation Award we look at the key products that are changing the market.

“In the fresh produce business you need trust and the fair is essentially providing that personal bridge”

Q. What makes attending Fruit Logistica and Freshconex so important for the different parts of the fresh produce sector, especially in crisis times?
A. On the exhibitor side, during recessionary times people need to work hard to keep their current customers, and find new customers to compensate for the loss of those that it has not been possible to retain. So the best way is to go to where all of the existing and potential customers are found in a single place, offering the opportunity of meeting them all at one event, which reduces costs as compared with travelling around Europe. So, from the exhibitor point of view it is an extremely efficient platform offering great value and benefit.
Turning to the visitors, if they want to see what is happening in the market, to source a product or find new suppliers, they can come to the fair and have meetings and communicate with exhibitors.
In the fresh produce business you need trust and the only way to achieve it is when you look at someone eye-to-eye: the fair is essentially providing that personal bridge.

Q. How is the fresh vegetable market dealing with the financial crisis?
A. All I know is what our customers tell us. They had an extremely challenging year. But although it has been a very tough time, people in the fresh fruit and vegetable business are positive and flexible, which has helped them cope with this difficult situation.

“Advice: in this globalized world finding good partners to be able to meet the challenges has been a positive thing”

Q. As a piece of advice, which should be the strategy to deal with the financial crisis in the sector?
A. Finding good partners to be able to meet the challenges has been a positive thing especially in this globalized world: you can’t take on the world alone and each country has its own specifics. So possibly finding different partners working with you at different points of the supply chain helps to address the challenges better.

Q. Which were the main challenges of Fruit Logistica to attract exhibitors this year?
A. Although it has been a challenge, when times get tough, things become clear and people start recognising value. And we have the good fortune that our event delivers clear business value.
There are lot of events around the world and people have had to reduce their budgets. Fortunately for us, because of the commercial logic that Fruit Logistica offers, our exhibition is the one event they are attending. I’m pleased to say that over 2,300 exhibitors from 71 countries decided that this was the right place for them.

“It is important to remain flexible”

Q. What does a leading company need to do to remain competitive?
A. You have to listen to what the customer wants and to anticipate what he is going to want. For example, variety development in fruit; you will see if you look at the sweetness levels of fruit over the years that customers' taste for sweetness has increased, so the question now is where the trends are, where they are going and where we want to take them in 15 or 20 years.
On the other hand it is important to remain flexible, because if you don’t sell a product soon it is gone.

Q. What do you think about the situation of fresh produce consumption in Europe?
A. It is a mixed picture. We know that in Germany consumption of fruit and vegetables actually has gone backwards – which is a tragedy when considering that people weren’t eating enough fresh fruit and vegetables for their health anyway.
But there is a mixed picture. For example, grapes. If you look at the consumption of seedless grapes and the consumption of grapes with seeds, the former is increasing and the latter decreasing. In general with certain product groups and certain varieties, you can achieve a degree of growth, but that can come at the cost of another variety. We know that all Europe’s population is getting older, so there is a certain maturity in the market as compared to other continents.

“The future evolution is going in the direction of fresh-cut”

Q. The fresh-cut sector is gaining market share: how can it be seen at Freshconex 2010?
A. The fresh-cut is what I call the premium product of the fruit and vegetables sector. It faces quite a challenge in the current financial times. But I think coming out from the financial difficulties fresh-cut is going to pick up again.
And what is clear is that future development is going in the direction of fresh-cut. So while at the moment the steps are smaller they are going to become larger and faster in due course.
I think the recovery will start at the end of 2010.

Q. Why have you chosen Mexico as the partner country at Fruit Logistica 2010? Which are the main interests of the country regarding the fresh produce sector?
A. Mexico has a phenomenal amount to offer and is a leading exporter of several fruit varieties and the tenth largest exporter in the world of agricultural products.
Mexico has faced some challenges in the USA – where the market has reached a certain level of saturation – and has made a big push to come into Europe, which is starting to pay dividends. Moreover, what goes together with the product is Mexican culture; it is one of those cultures that export themselves the best.

“The whole fresh produce sector is becoming more end-consumer focused”

Q. Which are the main innovations being shown during the fair in terms of the fresh produce sector?
A. There are several innovations. The Innovation Award features several products and it is difficult for me to say what the main innovation is, because it depends on what aspects you focus on: the technical or the market aspects.
I think the main thing is that the sector understands the importance of buyers knowing how innovative the producers and the companies in the supply chain are, because our business from the outside doesn’t look very sexy. However it is extremely attractive and there is a lot of innovation happening. That is why we established the Innovation Award, to show the world what the fresh produce sector does in improving, innovating, changing, new varieties, machinery, technology. The whole fresh produce sector is becoming more end-consumer focused.
I think the problem is getting the message out about innovation.

Q. Our websites are focused on peppers, tomatoes, melons and brassicas: in your opinion how have they evolved during recent years and what is the most important factor for growth?
A. The products in this segment have been the subject of much innovation. People often think that there are segments where there is not much movement, but if you look at variety development and the challenges that are taking place, I think the consumer is being offered a lot. There is however another element which comes into it – how to gain the consumer's attention, how you are going to get a consumer excited about a brassica. There is also a marketing element to creating an image that shows a brassica as something good or tasty.

S&G Brassicas Today - February 2010