Fruit Logistica: Liguria protagonist in Berlin at the largest fruit and vegetable trade fair.

BERLIN. Liguria protagonist a Fruit Logistics, leading trade fair for logistics and global trade of fruit and vegetables fresh that brought together over 2.500 exhibitors from 90 countries around the world at the Messe in Berlin. The regional stand, coordinated by Liguria International, under the slogan “Liguria. The Fruitful Hub”, has proposed again the formula already successfully tested in previous editions with the presence of the two Port System Authorities and the Agri-food Centre of Genoa.

"This year too, Liguria has worked as a system and presented itself as a whole at the largest fresh fruit and vegetable fair. Today, we are already the first region in Italy for companies operating in the blue economy and the first port hub for container traffic," explains Alessio Piana, Councillor for Economic Development, Ports and Logistics. "The aim is to take advantage of opportunities like this and that of Fruit Attraction, which will be held in Madrid next October, to make increase traffic to and from our ports".

The three days also offered the opportunity to promote the territory, thanks to the Chamber of Commerce of Genoa, which enriched the B2B meetings between Ligurian and foreign companies with quality products and the excellence of the mixology of Bartender Genova Gourmet.
Il port system of Genoa, Pra', Savona and Vado has a key role in the perishable products supply chain for the Italian and Southern European markets, moving over 235.000 tons of fresh produce in pallets and more than 100.000 reefer containers. Thanks to the widespread network of intermodal connections and the availability of special railway wagons, it is possible to transport fresh products in perfect condition even over long distances, to Switzerland and Germany.

"I Ports of Genoa have always been the maritime hub of reference for the Italian industry, but today we are looking beyond the Alps – says the Commissioner of the Western Ligurian Sea Port System Authority Massimo Seno -. Shorter routes, absence of congestion, lighter carbon footprint, diversification of supply chains: there are several advantages that have already convinced Swiss and German companies to use the Ports of Genoa. We are investing heavily to further improve our infrastructure and the quality of our services and we therefore expect to play a increasingly important role at the service of the European economy".

even the Port of La Spezia has been representing a reference port among the Mediterranean gateway container ports, with a share of national traffic equal to 18%. The port guarantees, with a total of 564 reefer plugs, a direct service to and from the main international destinations.

“The characteristics of the port, the infrastructure, the operational capabilities, the logistics connections and the railway intermodality, which in 2024 reached and sometimes exceeded 34%, combined with the digitalization process, make it competitive for the transport of agri-food products and for the management of the cold chain. Furthermore, there are ongoing investments by the operators which will lead to a significant development for this sector too of traffic linked to a rapidly growing market, especially with regard to the export of Italian products from the Italian “food valley” of which the port of La Spezia has always been a point of reference”, declares the Extraordinary Commissioner of the AdSP of the Eastern Ligurian Sea, Federica Montaresi.

Il Genoa Fruit and Vegetable Market he showed up in Berlin with numbers of absolute value for the sector: 26 wholesalers of fruit and vegetables, 22 logistics companies, 10 floricultural companies, 625 direct workers and 5950 in related industries, 3000 daily accesses and a turnover of over 250 million per year. A logistics hub in the agri-food sector of national importance, operating 24 hours a day.

“With this stand, shared with the main players in the logistics chain in our region, we had the opportunity to present ourselves to operators from all over the world as an integrated reference hub for the agri-food sector – underlines Giovanni Vassallo, president of Società Gestione Mercato -. Fruit Logistica was also the occasion to reconfirm the international vocation of our operators in a phase of further development for our Agri-food Centre”.

“For this new edition too, we have worked together with the trade associations, the Ligurian port system authorities and the Genoa Agri-food Centre to present Ligurian agri-food in a unified manner on the international stage of Fruit Logistica – comments Carlo Golda, president of Liguria International – An activity that has allowed us in recent days to enhance regional businesses to the fullest connected to the fruit and vegetable transport chain and their distribution”.

The main associations in the sector also took part in the three days, such as Assagenti (110 companies active in Genoa in the various shipping sectors, with more than 2.700 employees), Spediporto (about 600 companies and 12500 employees) that belong to Confcommercio, as well as the fruit and vegetable wholesale companies that operate within the Centro Agroalimentare of Genoa.