The celebration of Fruit Attraction fresh produce trade fair brings companies from all over the world together in Madrid each year. It is the perfect occasion to take the temperature of Europe's fresh market: visiting exhibitions and meeting with international buyers is a great opportunity to learn what trends are on the rise.
We’ve rounded up some of the stand-outs:
Ready to eat meals
The on-the-go trend is far from new; we’ve seen snack-sized packages on the rise in recent years. This year at Fruit Attraction there was a notable increase in complete fresh meals packaged in containers suitable for direct consumption. These include ready-to-eat salads, vegetable, legume, and grain bowls, and more. Unique or handy packaging like jars or bowls that allow the consumer to eat without transferring the meal to plate or other container also proved popular. We also noted a lot of variety within a single product range, such as a wide offering of flavors or even mix-and-match options such as different types of salad greens to pair with different ingredient topping kits.
Exotic fruits and vegetables
Consumers are interested in trying new products, and are developing an international palate. New products are being imported or grown; we see them sometimes included in beverages or IV range products, but often times fresh and unprocessed. For example, now appearing in the European market are many fruits and veggies from South America or Asia. Some notable products seen this edition of the fair are passion fruit, lychee, dragon fruit, and greens like bok choy.