DIARIO DEL PUERTO Ports 73 THE LONG SHADOW OF WAR Fruit Logistica, as the leading trade fair in its sector, will be a good gauge of the evolution of the fruit and vegetable industry and its logistics needs ”to tackle the new short and medium term challenges”, as the Port of Bilbao points out, which is keeping a close eye on developments in the Ukrainian conflict. Unfortunately, war is setting the pace of current affairs, as stated by Damian Kutnowski, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Martico Reefer Solutions, who believes that the development of the fruit and vegetable market will also be marked by the situation in Eastern Europe, ”in a similar way to what happened in 2020, which was affected by the ‘calm before the storm’ caused by COVID-19”. In any case, the CCO of Martico does not believe that the fair is an actual indicator, given that the fruit and vegetable industry ”is moving forward on its own path and logistics has to adapt and follow it, whether in terms of sustainability, digital transformation, economic or, unfortunately, geo-political aspects”. For the Port of Algeciras, Fruit Logistica has always been ”the sector benchmark and the best opportunity to learn about the latest developments taking place in the different markets”. This year’s event also adds ”the uncertainty caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its consequences, especially in terms of the obvious rise in prices due to increased energy costs”. We are keen to return to face-to-face trade fairs and other events so we can meet our clients without a screen between us”, explain representatives from the Port of Bilbao The main objective of the Port of Algeciras is to market its growing refrigerated logistics services, highlighting the high level of specialisation existing in the Andalusian port, which has container terminals with 5,000 reefer connections and a storage capacity for over 30,000 pallets. ”It is also extremely important for us to hold business meetings with producers from the fruit and vegetable industry in Latin America, Asia and Africa and to find out in detail about how the different campaigns are progressing”, explain representatives from the Port of Algeciras. Being together and strengthening links between team members is especially value by Martico in its visits to trade fairs such as Fruit Logistica. In addition, the possibility of seeing many important partners, customers and suppl iers from different countries face to face in a single venue is an added advantage, as well as working on ”different innovative initiatives and projects that can gather a lot of momentum at events of this kind”.
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