Madrid, Oct. 6, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal is represented by 50 companies and associations of fruit and vegetable producers and exporters at the Fruit Attraction 2026 trade fair in Madrid, which began on Tuesday and is «a cornerstone» of the national sector's internationalisation, according to the Portugal Fresh association.
Portugal Fresh – the Association for the Promotion of Fruit, Vegetables and Flowers from Portugal – represents around 5,000 farmers and «is bringing to the Spanish capital the ambition to exceed €3 billion in annual exports of fruit, vegetables and ornamental plants by 2030», the organisation said in a statement on Fruit Attraction, which runs until Wednesday.
In 2025, Portuguese exports of fruit, vegetables and ornamental plants reached an all-time high of around €2.6 billion.
Fifty national organisations (more than 30 companies, as well as institutional and service partners and associations) are in Madrid as part of a delegation organised by Portugal Fresh, occupying a space of 838 square metres – the largest Portuguese presence ever at Fruit Attraction.
«This event is now a cornerstone of our international promotion strategy,» said the president of Portugal Fresh, Gonçalo Santos Andrade, as quoted in the association's press release.
This is the 18th edition of Fruit Attraction, with 2,500 companies from 78 countries in Madrid, occupying an area of 162,000 square metres, according to the organisers, who expect 121,000 industry professionals from 150 countries to visit the fair over the coming days.
Portugal Fresh emphasises that the potato is this year's featured product at the Madrid fair and that buyers from the United Arab Emirates and China have been invited.
«An opportunity that Portugal Fresh and Portuguese companies intend to maximise. More broadly, the association's aim is to promote domestic production through value-added channels and solutions, consolidate relationships with traditional markets and, at the same time, accelerate the diversification of overseas clients, with a particular focus on Brazil and the potential opened up by the EU-Mercosur Agreement, not forgetting the EU-India Agreement,» says the association.
Portugal Fresh reiterates «the ambitious target» of «reaching €3 billion in annual exports by 2030» and the need, in order to achieve this, to «ensure greater and better access to water, with effective management of water resources», as well as «a more effective and rapid public response to extreme weather events, which are becoming increasingly frequent».
«And finally, we need competitive conditions equivalent to those of our main European competitors, in particular Spain,» added Gonçalo Santos Andrade, quoted in the same press release.
Spain accounts for 35% of the value of Portugal's exports of fruit, vegetables and ornamental plants and «is the sector's largest export market», with Santos Andrade warning of the imbalance in trade between the two countries.
«It is getting worse, having already reached a negative balance [for Portugal] of over €400 million in the first half of 2026, explained mainly by the huge disparity in the support channelled to the sector by the respective governments. In Spain, support exceeds €1.1 billion. In Portugal, farmers received around €26 million», he emphasises.
For Portugal Fresh, on the other hand, «the new 40-million-euro package, announced by the Government to offset the rise in fertiliser and energy prices, comes too late and falls short of what is needed».
Last week, Portuguese producers highlighted their loss of competitiveness compared with Spain due to the difference in public support and aligned themselves with the position of the Confederation of Portuguese Farmers, which is demanding €140 million in direct support from the Government.
«Portugal Fresh – Association for the Promotion of Fruit, Vegetables and Flowers from Portugal, COTHN – the National Fruit and Vegetable Operational and Technological Centre – and the FNOP – the National Federation of Fruit and Vegetable Producers' Organisations – publicly denounce the loss of competitiveness of Portuguese producers compared to their Spanish counterparts: the market is the same, as are the costs, but public support is incomparable», reads a joint statement released on 2 October.
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