The Hungarian exhibitors were well-received at the world's largest fruit & vegetable expo, the Fruit Logistica in Berlin, at which Hungary could be the featured guest in 2016, the President of the Hungarian Fruit and Vegetable Interprofessional Organisation and Product Board (FruitVeB) told Hungarian news agency MTI at the expo that opened on Wednesday.

The Hungarian exhibitors were well-received at the world's largest fruit & vegetable expo, the Fruit Logistica in Berlin, at which Hungary could be the featured guest in 2016, the President of the Hungarian Fruit and Vegetable Interprofessional Organisation and Product Board (FruitVeB) told Hungarian news agency MTI at the expo that opened on Wednesday.

Béla Mártonffy stressed that the objective of the organisation during the new, seven-year EU financial period was to increase the average annual quantity of produce by 1 million tons to 3.5 million tons. In view of the fact that the fruit & vegetable sector is very labour intensive, this could mean the creation of 100 thousand new jobs.

To reach this goal it is important to be present at professional forums that provide an opportunity to increase exports, such as the Fruit Logistica, and so the Organisation is working together with the Agricultural Marketing Centre and the Hungarian Embassy in Berlin to ensure that Hungary acquires the status of guest country at the 2016 expo, Mr. Mártonffy said.

The Berlin expo is also important because Germany is the number one market for the products of the Hungarian fruit & vegetable sector, with about a quarter of the sector's total exports going to the German market, he added.

According to preliminary figures, around 75-80 million euros worth of Hungarian fruits and vegetables were exported to Germany, while total exports for the sector equalled some 350 million euros.

Vegetable exports to Germany were stable in 2013, equalling some 39 million euros, while fruit exports achieved an all time high, according to estimates. The most popular products include stone fruits, various nuts, melon and frozen fruits, the FruitVeB president said.

15 companies are promoting the sector at the Hungarian national stand at the Fruit Logistica expo, including several farmers' organisations that represent many thousands of producers. Visitors to the Hungarian stand during the opening day of the exhibition, which runs until Friday, included German Minister for Food and Agriculture Hans-Peter Friedrich and Christian Göke, Managing Director of Messe Berlin GmbH, the company that operates the Berlin expo centre.

Some 2600 exhibitors from 84 countries are promoting their products at the Fruit Logistica expo this year, and the organisers are expecting a total of some 58 thousand visitors from 120 countries; this year's guest country is Argentina.

(Ministry of Rural Development)