The first ‘Freskon’ International Exhibition on Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, held from 23 to 25 April at Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre, exceeded all expectations. The goal of TIF-Helexpo to promote ‘Freskon’ as a point of reference for the sector in the broader region of South-East Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean  was achieved. The total number of trade visitors that visited the event came to 4,155, of whom 600 were foreign, coming from over 36 countries around the world. In fact, they include the 120 hosted buyers invited by TIF-Helexpo. The number of exhibitors came to 200.

The ‘specific weight’ of foreign representatives was truly impressive, given the fact that the overall turnover of the foreign hosted buyers coming into contact with Greek exhibitors amounts to 3.2 billion Euros, which demonstrates the importance of the event and the ‘players’ it managed to attract. There were over 2,500 business meetings held, with numerous Greek exhibitors noting that they had never achieved contacts of this calibre before, even at sector exhibitions held in Germany.

These quantitative and qualitative figures underlined the role that Freskon was called upon to play as a strategic link between the Greek production of fresh fruit & vegetables and the international markets, major foreign retailers and supranational distribution networks. This first major event demonstrated the enormous prospects of Freskon in the best possible way. After this year’s valuable experience, the event will return even more dynamically in 2016.

The parallel events of ‘Freskon’ were also very successful and included a special section named ‘FreshCon Market’, where 18 top international retailing chains met with Greek exhibitors and explored fields of cooperation with each other. There was great interest in the International Cherry Congress, which attracted over 600 participants from around the world and achieved significant representation of all the cherry-producing countries of the Mediterranean. During the Congress, the international cherry market was mapped and focus was placed on the Greek cherry and its dynamism. In fact, according to expert estimates, this year’s season, which will begin in mid-May with the harvest of early varieties, is expected to be market by good production, increased in volume compared to last year.

Moreover, there was significant attendance at all the speeches made by representatives of the fresh fruit & vegetable sector, who focused on this dynamic sector of the Greek economy.

Consistent in its social role, TIF-Helexpo, supported by the exhibitors participating in ‘Freskon’, donated approximately 5 tonnes of fruit and vegetables used to decorate the exhibition premises to the charity organisation ‘The Smile of the Child’, thus adding a social character to this major commercial and financial event.

29/04/2015 – 11:51

The 1st Freskon, organised by TIF-Helexpo from 23 to 25 April at Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre, aims at highlighting Thessaloniki as a strategic ‘player’ in the sector of fresh fruit and vegetables.

The first international event on fruit and vegetables has managed to attract 198 exhibitors and over 200 trade visitors, of whom 120 are foreign hosted buyers invited by TIF-Helexpo from 21 countries, with over 2,500 business meetings having been scheduled. The exhibitors participating in Freskon cover a broad range of sectors relating to production, transportation, trading, equipment, packaging materials and services of the sector, and will come into contact with representatives of major international supermarket chains, commercial enterprises and distribution companies-networks.

During today’s Press Conference on Freskon, the Deputy Minister of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction (Macedonia-Thrace), Ms Maria Kollia-Tsaroucha, expressed her support for the endeavour undertaken by TIF-Helexpo. She underlined the importance of holding the new exhibition in Macedonia, a top producer of fruit and vegetables, and stressed that Freskon is paving the way for those who wish to become involved in primary production and proves that there are tremendous prospects for prosperity.

In turn, the President of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Tassos Tzikas, referred to the exhibition ‘gap’ that existed in the sector and was covered by Freskon, underlining that this new event aims at becoming truly international.

According to the CEO of the company, Mr Kyriakos Pozrikidis, Freskon was the missing piece in the ‘puzzle’ of exhibition actions undertaken by TIF-Helexpo in regard to the primary sector (alongside Agrotica and Zootechnia). As he noted, Freskon is the only event in the sector held in the broader region of Southeast Europe, which makes the event all the more significant.

The selection of Thessaloniki as the host of Freskon was no accident, according to the editor of ‘Froutonea’ magazine, Mr Panayiotis Orfanos, who stated that Thessaloniki is a hub in the Balkans and the Southeast Mediterranean, as it is the starting point for the trade of fruit and vegetables. In fact, he stressed that the goal is for the city to become a strategic location for the sector.

The head of Freskon, Ms Tonia Nikolaidou, analysed the goals of this new exhibition for the growth of Greek exports and the international showcasing of the Greek brand name in the sector. The deputy general director of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Alexis Tsaxirlis, noted that this new event is a major vector of optimism for the prospects of Greek production and commerce.

The parallel events accompanying Freskon include two outstanding sections: On the one hand, there is FreshCon Market, which places the domestic fresh fruit and vegetable market under the ‘microscope’ of foreign retail chains, as proven by the participation of 18 major chains from the Balkans (Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, FYROM and Albania), Europe and Greece.

On the other, there is the International Cherry Congress, which will be held on Friday, 24 April, aiming, among other things, at accelerating the export penetration of Greek cherries into foreign markets. During the congress, the international cherry market, new technologies concerning cherry cultivation, projections for the new season in the main cherry-producing countries, the export prospects of the product and methods-proposals for better selling the product will be analysed.

Freskon will be inaugurated by the deputy Minister of Rural Development, Mr Evangelos Apostolou, on Thursday, 23 April, at 19.30, at Pavilion 15.

22/04/2015 – 15:55

TIF-Helexpo is planning to strengthen and further highlight the extroverted sector of foodstuffs, holding the 26th DETROP BOUTIQUE from 26 to 29 February 2016 concurrently with the 7th ARTOZYMA at Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre.

The ARTOZYMA International Exhibition for Bakery, Confectionery, Machinery, Raw Materials, Equipment & Readymade Products is once again being held every two years in order to meet the increasing needs of domestic bakery and confectionery enterprises, so that they can open channels of cooperation with neighbouring Balkan countries.

ARTOZYMA will utilise the dynamism of DETROP, which was held concurrently with OENOS from 26 February to 1 March 2015 and achieved a 23% increase in the total number of visitors and a 40% increase in the number of foreign trade visitors. The DETROP-OENOS events are supported by agencies of the food-beverage sector, such as the Wine Producers’ Association of the Northern Greece Vineyard (ENOAVE) and the Association of Overseas Greek Food & Drinks Importers (SELETROPE).

In this framework and as was the case with DETROP, great emphasis will be placed on attracting foreign exhibitors and trade visitors, while the medium-term goal is for ARTOZYMA to become established as the largest exhibition of the sector in South-East Europe.

Thus, the exhibition duo of DETROP BOUTIQUE and ARTOZYMA, to be held in 2016, will cover the needs of developing trade relations and partnerships with enterprises both from the broader region and of the domestic market.

Furthermore, the two exhibitions will serve as gastronomic festivals for the city of Thessaloniki; for this purpose, the administration of TIF-Helexpo has already contact city agencies in order to organise a number of parallel events focusing on cooking, confectionery and baking.

ARTOZYMA will be held with the support of the Hellenic Federation of Bakers, Thessaloniki Bakers’ Union and Thessaloniki Guild of Shop Owners and Confectioners.

20/04/2015 – 10:47