Between October 4 and 8, Cologne, Germany, once again hosted the ANUGA 2025 International Food and Beverage Fair, considered one of the most important events in the sector worldwide. The event brought together 140,000 visitors from the food, food service (catering), and retail sectors, including Chilean representatives of prunes, members of Chileprunes.
Sebastián Aguilera, export manager at South 365, comments that, in general, the Chilean prune delegation did quite well at ANUGA, both in terms of the individual exporters in the sector who traveled to Germany and the country’s image, which was done in a very organized and well-presented ProChile pavilion.
Regarding the prune industry, he says that “it is going through a period of stability, with prices above the historical average, which is very good. We believe that this will continue; France had a lower harvest than expected; the final figure is not yet available, but it is expected to be between 10% and 30% lower. And although it is not yet official, the California harvest is also expected to be slightly lower than in previous years.”
As an industry, he perceives that Chilean prunes are establishing themselves as a consistent, high-quality origin, and it is very important to maintain this and continue doing things well at Chileprunes so that the sector continues to develop.
Agustín Marín Cobo, commercial manager at Onizzo, agrees that the ANUGA fair was a success. “The prune supply from Chileprunes’ partners is synonymous with trust, stability, and reliability, and this is recognized by visitors to the event. In addition, I believe there has been a transition from a very large fair to a more selective event, with customers and buyers who know what they are looking for.”
He adds that in the case of Onizzo, the opportunity to strengthen ties with our partners and for them to “recognize us as strategic partners is a source of tremendous pride. The fact that new customers are coming to us looking for the Onizzo brand is the result of years of commitment to quality and a job well done.”
Onizzo’s activities focused on relaxed meetings with partners and the launch of a retail line of plums, as well as dried and dehydrated fruits.
Matías Campos, Claudia Campos, and their general manager, Pedro Monti, traveled from Silvestres. The latter points out that “for us, participating in ANUGA has two main objectives: to meet with our customers to talk about the year, the coming season, tell them about our projects, and learn about their needs; and second, to seek new markets and customers, provided they are long-term relationships.”
This year, Silvestres received more than 60 visits, “which was especially productive in terms of sales for the Middle East and Eastern Europe.” However, these executives’ tour was a little more extensive and included previous visits to Italy, Turkey, and Poland to explore potential new customers, meeting with 25 companies in four days.
Regarding South 365, Sebastián Aguilera adds that they had three objectives for this trip:
First, to “take care of the house,” that is, to meet with as many customers as possible, considering that they export to more than 45 countries and it is necessary to know how they have received the fruit during the year, what they are doing, and how they can continue to strengthen their partnership. “I live in Spain, and having a sales office here allows us to have easier contact with customers and to have fairly up-to-date information on what is happening.”
Second, they are always looking for new commercial alternatives, and in that sense, ANUGA is the right place to do so, a place where “you can see the new trends, where food is going, among other things.” And third, “we wanted to sell what we had left, which was not much, but we took advantage of the opportunity to commit to it.”
This year, ANUGA focused mainly on the following topics:
- Sustainability: showcasing solutions that promote conscious production, plant-based ingredients, and resource-saving production methods.
- Innovation: multiple product launches from around the world, with special events such as the “Anuga Taste Innovation Show”.
- Consumer trends: capitalizing on the latest trends such as plant-based foods, alternative proteins, and the rise of private labels (store brand in the US and own brand in the UK) in premium segments.
This event is an essential platform for establishing relationships with international producers, importers, and distributors, and promoting domestic products to a global audience, with prominent participation from national pavilions.
