Major Spanish tradeshow operator and venue IFEMA has confirmed a new international event collaboration with UK-based organiser Diversified Communications. The agreement provides for co-organisation of a major annual international organic food event for the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean region.
The show will be held under the Organic Food Iberia and Eco Living Iberia brands, 6-7 June 2019, and is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and Portugal Foods, as well as the country’s main organic production regions. A raft of international stands and pavilions are expected, with organisers reporting 70% of exhibition space already booked.
IFEMA already runs tradefairs in this niche, including Fruit Attraction, which involves 1,600 companies and 80,000+ professional visitors from 120 countries.
Diversified Communications is also a specialist organiser in the organic sector, with events in the UK, Scandinavia and Australia, as well as magazines and the news website NaturalProductsGlobal.com
Spain claims to have the largest organic production area in Europe, with increasing domestic consumption and significant exports of organic products. The June date, organisers say, gives the tradefair an exclusive date far removed from other big events in the international calendar.
IFEMA MD Eduardo López-Puertas, welcoming the announcement, said: “As a leading operator and venue, it is our responsibility to reflect the changes that are taking place in the market and, for some time now, we have been working on developing a fair dedicated to organic products in Spain. Diversified Communications has a solid reputation as an independent organiser of commercial events and is well known in the international organic sector, so our two companies coming together to form a joint venture not only makes sense, it is also a big opportunity and means that we can develop the event to the utmost.”
Carsten Holm, MD of Diversified Communications UK, added: “We have been working for more than a year on the launch of Organic Food Iberia, and everyone has been very positive about the idea. That is why this partnership with IFEMA, which brings its experience, resources and network, takes the project to another level. We are very excited and are already looking forward to working with our partners from IFEMA and all the stakeholders in Organic Food Iberia to create a truly world-class event for the organic sectors in Spain.”
Francisco Javier Mate, Deputy Director General of differentiated quality and organic agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain, said: “Holding a professional fair in Spain specifically for organic agri-food products is one of the actions included in the Ministry of Agriculture’s 2018-2020 Strategy for Ecological Production. For this reason, we are pleased that it is being launched in 2019. Being in Madrid, it will bring together producers from across the Iberian Peninsula, with all its great diversity and potential.”
Álvaro Barrera, President of the Ecological Value Association ECOVALIA, said it was time for Spain to have a dedicated meeting place for production, industry and marketing that reflects the growing increase in organic consumption. “We are delighted to see IFEMA and Diversified, each of them a leader in their field, join together to create a world-class trade fair for this increasingly important sector.”
Photo, R-L: David Samper, President of INTERECO and CAERM; Deolinda Silva, Director of Portugal Foods; José Miguel Herrero, MD of Industria Alimentaria -Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación; Eduardo López-Puertas, MD of IFEMA; Álvaro Barrera, president of the Ecological Value Association ECOVALIA; Carsten Holm, MD of Diversified Communications UK
