The next edition of Fruit Attraction, being held from Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 October at IFEMA MADRID, is to feature China and the United Arab Emirates as guest importing countries, with the aim of facilitating direct contact between operators and enhancing the positioning of Spanish produce.
China is a very limited market for both Spanish and EU producers. In 2025, Spanish exports of fruit and vegetables totalled just 1,784 tonnes, accounting for 0.01 per cent of Spain’s total exports. The situation is the same at EU level: the EU, comprising its 27 Member States, exported just 10,084 tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables to China.
China is also a highly complex market when it comes to negotiating market access for EU fruit and vegetable produce, requiring the formalisation of protocols which can take four or five years to negotiate. However, in recent years there has been progress in opening up the Chinese market to Spanish fruit and vegetable products.
At present, the following fruit, vegetables and nuts may be exported: citrus fruit, stone fruit (peaches and plums), grapes, persimmons, almonds and cherries. Protocols have also been approved for dried figs and pistachios, but the necessary procedures to allow their export have not yet been finalised.
The selection of China as a Fruit Attraction 2026 guest country – a country that has held this role in previous editions – will help to strengthen trade relations between operators on both sides.
As for the United Arab Emirates, it has been one of the main non-European destination countries for Spanish fruit and vegetable exports. In 2021, 40,441 tonnes were exported, a volume very similar to that of 2022, but there has since been a sharp decline, with exports in 2025 standing at 13,621 tonnes.
This decline is due to a number of factors, but FEPEX highlights in particular the rise in costs in general and logistics costs in particular. In recent years, there has been an increase in sea freight rates, which have even doubled on some routes. Furthermore, geopolitical tensions are driving up the cost of transport and slowing it down, which results in a loss of competitiveness for distant destinations and, consequently, a reduction in volumes.
Nevertheless, the reputation of Spanish products in this country was, and remains, good. They are associated with quality and competitive prices, which means that the likelihood of reaching agreements with the country’s food companies is growing, both to cover domestic consumption and to supply the channels dedicated to the tourism industry, as the United Arab Emirates, and specifically Dubai, have become one of the most visited destinations in the world in recent years.
For this reason, the United Arab Emirates has been chosen as a guest country for the forthcoming 18th edition of Fruit Attraction, as it will help to revitalise this market – one of the most promising outside Europe – bearing in mind, furthermore, that Dubai acts as a logistics and re-export hub for the entire Gulf region, Asia and Africa.
Fruit Attraction, organised by IFEMA MADRID and FEPEX, is being held at the trade fair centre from Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 October, from 9.30 am to 7 pm and until 4 pm on the last day. It will feature more than 2,500 companies, covering an area of over 162,000 m² across ten halls.
Fonte: Fruit Attraction
