Sixteen Rioja companies are presenting their produce at Fruit Attraction. Regional support covers 84,863 euros of the shared stand in Madrid.
From 6 to 8 October, La Rioja companies displayed their produce at Fruit Attraction in IFEMA Madrid. The regional government is paying 84,863.53 euros towards the collective stand. The space covers 332 square metres.
Sixteen businesses from the region brought fruit and vegetable products to the fair. They are seeking stronger links with buyers in Spain and other markets. The Madrid appearance builds on a partnership that has lasted since the event's first edition. The Government of La Rioja, the Federación de Empresas de La Rioja, known as FER, and its association ARIFRUT have kept the group presence going.
The businesses appear under one institutional image. The fair has also grown beyond its Spanish base and now reaches more international buyers.
Spain’s Agriculture Minister Luis Planas opened the 2026 edition of Fruit Attraction in Madrid, underscoring the fair’s importance to the national fruit and vegetable industry.
The business case is simple. A shared stand gives smaller producers one place to meet buyers at a major professional event for the international fruit and vegetable trade. Noemí Manzanos visited the exhibition on the 6th with David Martín and Eduardo Fernández as the companies looked for new commercial opportunities.
Organisers IFEMA and FEPEX called the 2026 edition the largest in the fair's history. That scale has made Fruit Attraction an international business forum, not just a national showcase.
That matters in La Rioja.
Fruit and vegetable production covers 17,561 hectares in the region. Fruit crops account for 12,024 hectares, vegetables for 4,876 hectares and potatoes for 661 hectares. Together, those areas produce 250,520 tonnes a year. The estimated economic value is 219.1 million euros. Regional agricultural statistics cited in reporting on the event provide the figures.
The 2026 fair brought together around 2,500 companies from 78 countries. Its international scale gives the shared Rioja stand access to professional buyers and export contacts that smaller producers may find harder to reach individually, although available reporting does not document specific contracts or confirmed export growth after the event.
The Madrid stand connects that production and processing capacity with buyers outside the local market. An earlier regional analysis on Madrid's role in Spain's private healthcare expansion offers a comparison of how regional priorities can shape Spanish sectors. It does not change the focus of this agricultural event.
The possible commercial gain should be stated carefully. Companies or public authorities have not published evidence of agreements, negotiations or additional exports after the fair.
The regional stand includes Zanahorias Medrano, Garper Fresh, Frutas del Valle de Moncalvillo, Micotec, Hongos Fernández Guridi, Frutas y Verduras Valle de Rincón, Frutas Pisón, Peras Pipín, Carmelo Beltrán, Setas Vallondo, Ayecue, Agroalimentaria de La Rioja 2001, Frutas Solano, Herchamp 2017 and Xexprimir. Ramiro Arnedo is also exhibiting outside the regional stand.
The available list names 15 companies despite references to 16 participants. The final count should be checked against the official fair catalogue or documentation from FER and ARIFRUT.
The businesses come from Entrena, Pradejón, Autol, Rincón de Soto, Murillo de Río Leza, Logroño and Calahorra. Their products include fruit, vegetables, mushrooms and other horticultural produce. The group therefore presents a broad regional offer instead of relying on one crop.
The stand uses the campaign '#productoriojano, lo vas a querer'. It links product quality with La Rioja's villages, landscape, territory and cultural heritage. At the opening, the Arnedo pastry business La Clavelina added to that message with ice cream made from shiitake mushroom, carrot, pear, cauliflower and pepper.
According to IFEMA and FEPEX, around 2,500 companies from 78 countries attended Fruit Attraction's 2026 edition. The fair gives La Rioja a practical route to export contacts through a public-private partnership that has run for years.
The sector's size supports that approach. It covers 17,561 hectares, produces 250,520 tonnes a year and has an estimated value of 219.1 million euros.
The outcome is still unconfirmed. Available reports establish the date, format, participants and sector statistics, but they do not show the results of individual business meetings or any rise in exports after the fair.
