Freskon a meeting point for the fresh fruit & vegetable sector

L-R: the associate of ‘Froutonea’ magazine, Mr Christos Katsanos; the CEO of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Kyriakos Pozrikidis; the President of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Tassos Tzikas; the deputy general director of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Alexis Tsaxirlis; the Director of Freskon, Ms Tonia Nikolaidou.

Freskon, the International Trade Show for Fruit & Vegetables to be held from 27 to 29 April at Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre, will serve as a meeting point for international retail groups, as well as domestic and international transporters of fresh fruit and vegetables.

The 191 direct and indirect exhibitors participating in this year’s 3rd Freskon will come from Argentina, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Italy, Poland, Cyprus, Iraq, Albania, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the USA, Japan and Canada, and will have the opportunity to come into contact with representatives of major international supermarket chains, commercial enterprises and distribution companies-networks.

As announced during today's Press Conference, during Freskon, which is deployed over 12,500 sq.m. this year, a Hosted Buyers Programme will be implemented, with the participation of 120 enterprises from 28 countries. In fact, over 2,500 B2B meetings between representatives of Greek enterprises and producers and international hosted buyers have been scheduled.

International hosted buyers are active throughout the entire sector of sale and distribution of fresh fruit and vegetable around the world. The trade show will also be welcoming group delegations of hosted buyers from FYROM (100 individuals) and Bulgaria (15 individuals).

Once again, Freskon will host FreshCon Market, which will focus on linking production to retail sales. FreshCon Market, held in cooperation with ‘Froutonea’ magazine, mainly aims at bringing large supermarket chains into direct contact with professionals of the agricultural sector, creating ideal conditions for direct agreements. In this context, participants in this year’s FreshCon Market include the British group ‘Tesco’ and the German group ‘Metro’, both global players in the retail market, the ‘Fantastico’ and ‘T-Market’ chains from Bulgaria, ‘ATB Market’ from Ukraine, ‘Velyka Kyshenya’ and ‘Tavria V’ from Romania, the French group ‘Carrefour’ and ‘Mega Image’, ‘Maxi’, ‘Univerexport’, ‘Mercator’ and ‘Super Vero’ from Serbia, as well as the ‘AB Vasilopoulos’, ‘Masoutis’, ‘Kritikos’, ‘Halkiadakis’, ‘My Market-Metro Cash & Carry’ and ‘Discount Markt’ from Greece.

This year’s trade show will also feature the International Kiwi Congress, to be held on 27 April, while the overall schedule of Freskon side events is particularly broad and rich.

Freskon: An international exhibition

The President of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Tassos Tzikas, referred to the international prospects of Freskon, which were clear from the first moment, stressing that this trade show covers a gap identified in the market by the national exhibition agency.

In turn, the CEO of the company, Mr Kyriakos Pozrikidis, characterised Freskon as the fifth piece of the exhibition ‘puzzle’ created by TIF-Helexpo for the primary sector, noting that this trade show is one of the company’s most international events.

In turn, Mr Christos Katsanos, an associate of the ‘Froutonea’ magazine, stressed that Freskon is a unique exhibition, placing emphasis on small crops of high added value that had no exposure until recently. Mr Katsanos also spoke about the International Kiwi Congress and the acclaimed speakers from the most important kiwi producing countries participating in the event.

Thessaloniki can play a crucial role in the logistics chain of fresh fruit and vegetables, from producers to international markets, as noted by the deputy general director of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Alexis Tsaxirlis, who characterised Freskon as a very important brand for the Fair.

Finally, the Director of Freskon, Ms Tonia Nikolaidou, stated that the goal of this international event is the growth of exports, the extroversion of enterprises and the showcasing of Greek fruit.

Freskon will begin on Thursday, 27 April, and its opening hours will be 11:00 to 19:00. The event will be inaugurated at 17:30 on the same day by the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Mr Evangelos Apostolou. The working hours on Friday, 28 April will be 10:00 to 19:00 and on Saturday, 29 April from 10:00 to 18:00. Parking is free for all exhibitors and visitors.