Macfrut 2024: what happened
Macfrut 2024 brought 56,200 visitors and 1,320 exhibitors to the Rimini Expo Centre on 8–10 May, covering fruit and vegetables from nursery to packhouse.
- Dates
- 8–10 May 2024
- Where
- Rimini Expo Centre, Rimini
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- Visitors
- 56,200
- Exhibitors
- 1,320
What happened at Macfrut 2024
Cesena Fiera S.p.A. staged Macfrut 2024 on 8–10 May at the Rimini Expo Centre in Italy. According to the organiser, the three-day fair recorded 56,200 visitors and 1,320 exhibitors. Its scope runs along the whole fruit and vegetable chain, from production through handling to trade. That breadth sets it apart from fairs built mainly around selling fresh produce, because growers can meet plant suppliers and packhouse engineers in the same halls.
In 2024 the fair rewarded visitors who arrived with one crop and one problem in mind. Uneven quality, costly hand harvesting and losses while preparing shipments are linked across stages, so a fix at one point can create new demands at another. A different variety, harvesting method or pack can change what the grading and packing line must do. Looking at planting material, cultivation, grading, packing and delivery together gave a clearer picture than comparing single machines.
Fruit and vegetable growers, nurseries, packhouses, technology suppliers and export groups were the core audience. Polish orchards and packing businesses had the most to gain from talks organised by crop and process stage. A good supplier conversation covered the input quality a line needs, the throughput it reaches on a given grade, cleaning routines and rejection criteria. Labour-saving claims deserved a close look at their assumptions and at the jobs still left to the operator.
The most useful thing to carry home from Rimini was a crop-flow map showing where the product loses value, with two or three upgrade options attached. Each option then needed a run on the grower's own fruit rather than hand-picked samples, plus a clear answer on service and parts. Teams that also visit Fruit Attraction or FRUIT LOGISTICA do well to give Macfrut a separate technology brief. Buying equipment and selling produce involve different counterparts.
Highlights
- 56,200 visitors and 1,320 exhibitors, according to Cesena Fiera
- Held 8–10 May 2024 at the Rimini Expo Centre
- From planting material to grading, packing and delivery