A group of Kenyan vegetable vendors raked in Ksh235 million over the last 3 days in an online virtual market hosted in Rimini Italy.
Dubbed the Macfrut Digital Trade Fair, the first-of-its-kind event was held on a digital platform due to Covid-19 travel challenges across the world.
"Despite some difficulties in the initial phase, the numbers speak for themselves: 32,212 participants during the three-day event, with 18,164 individual professional visitors and 219,524 pages viewed," reads an excerpt from the website.
It recorded a large number of foreign participants: 49% of visitors were from abroad representing 152 countries, of which 60% from Europe, 12% from North Africa, 10% from Sub-Saharan Africa, 6% from the Far East and Australia, and 4% from North America, Russia and Eastern Europe.
Reports detailed that 35 of the vendors from all over the world came from Kenya.
“We are happy that even Covid-19 did not stop our Kenyan exporters from interacting with the world on the streets of Rimini and make sales,” Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency chief executive Wilfred Marube stated.
A total of 600 buyers registered on the platform while 4,492 business to business (B2B) meetings were requested. 3,840 messages were sent via the “Write to us” button.
The exhibition halls most popular among visitors were production and trade (8,421 visitors), the international halls (5,203), machinery and systems (3,424), packaging (3,016) and Plant nurseries (2,200).
Kenya’s top exports to the European Union have largely been fresh produce mainly vegetables, tea, coffee, fruits and nuts, preserved fruits, tobacco products and canned fruit juices.
The country's exports across the East African Community sustained an upward trajectory during the year despite the pandemic.
Macfrut Registration
According to the website, vendors looking to be part of the next exhibition were directed to look at the early booking fees valid until December 31, 2020.
New exhibitors are also expected to fill in the online application form available of the website
Registration of old exhibitors: Log in the exhibitor reserved area to apply in the new edition of Macfrut.
If you don't have your credentials, you can retrieve your password by clicking the Recovery Password button.
The Macfrut Digital project will be repeated, packed with new content, from 28 to 30 September 2021 in parallel with another global event - the International Asparagus Days.
