Frutech 2026: Sicily at the Center of Fruit and Vegetable Innovation in the Mediterranean

From November 25 to 27, 2026, SiciliaFiera in Misterbianco (Catania) will host the third edition of Frutech, the international trade fair dedicated to the agroecological transition and the new frontiers of the agri-food sector. The organizers aim to surpass the results of 2025, which saw 137 exhibitors, nearly 4,000 professional visitors, and over 20 specialized conferences, with significant growth compared to the first edition (+26%).

Presented in Rome in the Sala Cavour of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry (MASAF), the event confirms its position as one of the main Italian events for discussions between businesses, research, institutions, and global markets, with the aim of supporting the sector’s transition towards more resilient, sustainable, and competitive production models.

“This is a fair born where nothing like it existed before, in the heart of Mediterranean agriculture, to connect research, businesses, and new generations. We have created a unique space so that worlds that often have little dialogue could finally meet,” stated SiciliaFiera President Nino Di Cavolo. Sicily, as he noted, is the first European region to have passed a law on agroecology, confirming its commitment to promoting a sustainable and innovative agricultural development model. We are therefore coming together to reshape the future of Italian and European fruit and vegetable growing.

Sicily, hub of Mediterranean fruit and vegetables

The choice of Sicily as Frutech’s location is supported by figures that confirm its centrality in the national agri-food landscape. The island represents approximately 18% of Italian agricultural production and is home to over 220,000 farms. With nearly €3 million, it surpasses Emilia-Romagna and Lazio alone. Together with Puglia and Campania, it accounts for 45% of the national fruit and vegetable value. It is also the leading Italian region in terms of organic farmland, accounting for 17% of the total organic area. It is also extremely rich in biodiversity, with an agri-food heritage that includes 67 Geographical Indication products, 19 of which are in the fruit and vegetable sector alone, ranking it sixth in Italy for the number of certified agri-food products. The overall value of Sicily’s PDO economy exceeds €550 million, with a significant share (11%) generated by the fruit and vegetable supply chain.

Further recognition, strengthening its position as a hub of excellence in agricultural production, food culture, and innovation, comes from its designation as the European Region of Gastronomy 2025.

In this context, Frutech was born as a platform for dialogue between the Mediterranean and international markets, where technology, research, and production chains meet to address the challenges of climate change and global competitiveness.

Innovation, infrastructure and agricultural policies

Il sottosegretario al Masaf, Luigi D’Eramo, ha evidenziato il ruolo strategico della manifestazione nel consolidare la competitività del settore primario.

«Frutech represents an important opportunity to enhance the quality of Italian production, but above all to put innovation, sustainability and research at the center», he stated. «The strength of Italian agri-food lies not only in the excellence of its products, but also in the uniqueness of the artistic, architectural and landscape beauties of the territories in which they are transformed and in the communities that generate them».

Over the past three and a half years, the government has allocated approximately €16 billion to the agricultural sector, €2 billion of which for technological innovation. The inland areas, where 49% of national agricultural production occurs and where the main infrastructure and logistics challenges are concentrated, are also central.

D’Eramo, delegate for the organic sector, also announced the upcoming presentation of the national organic label, scheduled for September, and emphasized the role of New Genomic Techniques (NGT) as a lever for improving crop resilience to climate change and phytosanitary emergencies.

Export, agritech, and Italian technological leadership

Internationalization is one of the pillars of the 2026 edition. Thanks to the collaboration with ICE-Agenzia, Frutech will host 30 international buyers from 15 countries across Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Mediterranean, Africa, Latin America, and the Gulf countries.

“Italy is a world leader in agri-food processing technologies, with a market share of nearly 18% and over €5.2 billion in exports,” explained Maurizio Forte, Central Director for Export Sectors at ITA. “That’s why we’ve developed an incoming program that will bring highly qualified professionals from strategic markets to Misterbianco.”

The Italian agri-food sector continues to show steady growth, with +3.3% in 2025 and a further +3.2% in the first months of 2026, despite a complex geopolitical context.

Mediterranean, businesses and international networks

The agricultural representation system has also supported the event’s growth since its first edition. “Businesses are called upon to be increasingly competitive, sustainable, and technologically advanced,” stated Sandro Gambuzza, vice president of Confagricoltura. “Fostering the transfer of innovation, internationalization, and the valorization of local excellence is a priority today. Thanks to its agricultural vocation, location, and entrepreneurial capacity, Sicily can play a central role in the Mediterranean agri-food dialogue. Confagricoltura will therefore continue to support Frutech, contributing to the development of a project geared toward the future of Italian agriculture.” Confagricoltura directly manages the conference section, focusing on key issues related to sustainability, energy and genetic transition, and financial instruments, as prerequisites for technological development and maintaining competitiveness in foreign markets.

A further distinctive element of Frutech is the ability to reduce the distances between production territories and international markets. In this sense, Giovanni De Luca, honorary consul of the Republic of Bulgaria for eastern Sicily, underlined the strategic value of the event.

“We enthusiastically support this showcase of excellence, which promotes sustainable innovation and paves the way for new bilateral and transnational collaborations,” he stated. “Frutech allows Sicilian companies to network and showcase their agritech excellence directly in Sicily, reducing travel costs to Northern Italy or Europe. This is a historic step in connecting our supply chain to Bulgaria and the wider Mediterranean basin.”

Training, research and real agriculture

A central role is entrusted to the academic world and training. Among the most popular initiatives of the last edition was the project “University students meet businesses”, which was highly appreciated among students from the universities of Catania, Palermo, Messina and Reggio Calabria. An experience that could become a permanent event within the event. «Frutech allows students to come into direct contact with the production world and allows companies to intercept new skills», explained Stefano La Malfa, full professor at the University of Catania. «At the same time it allows the general public to learn about real agriculture, made up of innovation, technological transfer and entrepreneurial ability». The university network contributes to strengthening the scientific base of the Mediterranean fruit and vegetable sector, addressing issues such as traceability, quality of production, sustainable defense, nursery farming and competitiveness of the supply chains.

It is clear, therefore, that the fair plays a role that goes far beyond a simple meeting place, but is part of a broader approach, the One Health approach, based on the interconnection between human health, the environment, and agricultural production, and which finds particularly fertile ground in Sicily.