The First National Fruits and Vegetables Fair (FruitVEG Fair 2019) is scheduled for Koforidua Technical University (KTU) from the 8th – 10th May, 2019.

In a statement released, the Executive Director, FruitVEG Secretariat, Christopher Kpeh stated that Secretariat seeks to promote the fruits and vegetables sector by rallying support for increase cultivation of fruits and vegetables for local consumption, industrial use and export for foreign exchange.

The Executive Director emphasized, in an increasingly competitive global grocery market, retailers will be looking to the fruit and vegetable business more and more for ideas on how to boost their sales, improve consumer experience in their stores and distinguish their overall offer.

In many areas, this will translate into a higher demand for better-tasting products that can command a better price, but in other markets the affordability of quality fresh produce may well be a more influential deciding factor.

What's more, growing consumer demand for quality fresh produce is raising expectations across the entire supply chain and compelling retailers to demonstrate greater commitment in areas like traceability and environmental stewardship.

The Executive Director mentioned, FruitVEG Fair 2019 under the theme “Fruits and Vegetables; a catalyst for Health and Economic Development” will showcase, celebrate and deliberate on fortunes and the vital role played by growers, suppliers and buyers of the fruits and vegetable sector in the nation’s socio-economic development .

Through exhibitions and seminars stakeholders will be linked to untiring efforts at feeding our growing population, providing raw materials to the nation’s industries and contributing substantially to the nation’s foreign exchange earnings through export.

The Fruits and Vegetables Fair will serve as a convergence platform and will provide an excellent opportunity for growers to present their fresh produce ready for exports to buyers, whilst suppliers will have a great chance to showcase to both growers and buyers of fresh produce their latest technology solutions and innovations, value added processing & packaging to improve efficiency and profitability of fresh produce operations.

The fairs will feature marketers and merchandizers of fresh produce from the value chain, challenging us the FruitVEG Secretariat to set a goal to make it the industry event for fresh fruits & vegetables for Ghana.

In the coming years, we would resolve to attract national and international buyers of fresh produce to come and see the nation’s fresh produce on display, so they can source and forge new connections as well as purchasing fruits and vegetables from growers from in- and outside Ghana.

For this reason also growers from sub region and other nations will be invited to exhibit and showcase their fresh produce, ready for export to food markets around the world.

FruitVEG is an initiative of FruitVEG Initiative Foundation partnered by Veritas with the assistance of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, International Potato Centre (CIP)Ghana,GBC,Rite FM, Karidok Juice,Ghana Chamber of Agribusiness, among other stakeholders.

The fair, seminars and field demonstration will start from May 8th and end on May 10th 2019 at the Koforidua Technical University (KTU).