Events That Shape the Now

Hong Kong has always been a city defined by movement ships cutting across the harbour, capital shifting through glass towers, ideas flowing through crowded streets. But for three days every September, the city becomes something else entirely the nerve centre of Asia’s fresh‑produce economy. ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA 2025 did not simply return to Hong Kong this year it expanded, intensified and redefined what a global marketplace can look like.

More than 14,000 trade visitors and 760 exhibitors from 43 countries filled AsiaWorld‑Expo with a density of conversations and negotiations that felt almost electric. The numbers were impressive, but the real story was the mood a sense that Asia is no longer a participant in the global fruit trade, but an architect of its future.

AFL 2025 unfolded at a moment when Asia is recalibrating its economic identity. China’s consumer behaviour is shifting, Southeast Asia is accelerating and India is emerging as a strategic priority for exporters across continents. The fair mirrored this transition with unusual clarity. David Axiotis, Managing Director of Global Produce Events, captured the sentiment with precision when he noted that the level of innovation and the volume of new business opportunities had exceeded expectations. Walking the aisles, it was evident he was not exaggerating. The fair felt like a living map of Asia’s economic transitions a place where macro trends turned into micro conversations at every booth.

This year’s edition was also the most international in AFL’s history. Twenty‑six national and regional pavilions, first‑time participation from Japan, Israel and Armenia, Peru as the Official Partner Country and a First‑Timer Pavilion showcasing nine debut companies all signalled a deeper truth - Asia is no longer a single market. It is a constellation of markets, each with its own rhythm, demand curve and cultural logic. The diversity was not decorative, it was structural.

If there was one theme that defined AFL 2025, it was premiumisation. Across China, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and increasingly India, consumers are demanding higher‑grade fruit, stronger brand stories, better packaging, consistent quality, traceability and a sense of experience. Commodity fruit is losing ground. The future belongs to brands that can deliver flavour, safety, aesthetics and narrative. This shift is already reshaping supply chains, pricing strategies and even farm‑level decisions. 

India, interestingly, was not the largest exhibitor but it was the most discussed. Exporters from Chile, Peru, South Africa, Italy and Egypt repeatedly described India as the fastest‑growing market in Asia, the next major consumer story and a country with rising purchasing power and appetite for premium fruit. What stood out was not the enthusiasm but the consistency of the message. India’s fruit‑import ecosystem is maturing, retail is organising, cold chain is improving, consumers are experimenting. For the first time, India is being positioned not as a peripheral buyer but as a strategic priority. This shift will influence pricing, supply allocation and category development for years to come.

AFL 2025 also revealed the four categories that will define Asia’s next decade of growth- berries, avocados, cherries and citrus. These are no longer just product lines, they are strategic battlegrounds. Berries continue to dominate conversations, with China leading and India rising. Avocado suppliers from Mexico, Peru, Kenya and Colombia showcased aggressive expansion plans. Cherries remain the crown jewel of premium gifting, with Vietnam and Thailand joining China as major demand centres. Citrus suppliers from Egypt, South Africa and Spain are competing intensely for Asian shelf space, with India’s appetite for premium citrus accelerating. 

Behind the colourful booths and branding, the real transformation was happening in the technologies shaping the future of fresh‑produce movement. Cold‑chain companies showcased energy‑efficient reefer systems, real‑time temperature monitoring, shock‑resistant packaging and humidity‑controlled containers. The message was unmistakable - cold chain is no longer a support function it is a competitive advantage. Smart packaging from ethylene‑absorbing sachets to QR‑enabled traceability is becoming a tool of quality control, storytelling and consumer trust. Artificial intelligence is now being used to predict demand, optimise routes, reduce spoilage and manage inventory. The industry is entering a phase where technology is not optional it is existential.

The fair opened with a spectacular Welcome Evening at the Rosewood Hotel, co‑hosted with Guangzhou Jiangnan Agricultural Group, Shanghai Huizhan Fruit & Vegetable Market and Asiafruit Magazine. More than 800 industry leaders gathered overlooking Hong Kong’s harbour a reminder of the city’s role as Asia’s commercial gateway. The conversations that evening revealed the industry’s true mood cautious optimism, hunger for growth and a shared belief that Asia will define the next decade of global fruit trade.

China, despite economic fluctuations, remains the centre of gravity. Chinese buyers at AFL 2025 were selective, quality‑driven, brand‑focused and increasingly sophisticated. The era of “sell anything to China” is over. The new China wants premium fruit, consistent supply, strong branding and transparent traceability. Exporters who fail to adapt will find themselves edged out.

Southeast Asia showed strong buyer activity, with Vietnam’s appetite for cherries and berries exploding, Thailand positioning itself as a premium fruit hub, Singapore maintaining its role as the region’s trendsetter and Malaysia quietly expanding its import portfolio. The region is no longer a secondary market; it is a cluster of high‑value opportunities.

The Middle East was highly visible, with buyers prioritising premium quality, reliable supply and year‑round availability. The Middle East and Asia are becoming interconnected markets, especially for berries, avocados, citrus and grapes a trend that will reshape supply chains.

Latin America particularly Chile, Peru, Colombia, Eucador , Brazil and Mexico arrived with a clear message that Asia is our future. Peru’s role as Official Partner Country was both symbolic and strategic. Latin American exporters understand Asia’s demand cycles, the importance of branding, the need for consistent quality and the value of long‑term relationships. Their presence felt cultural, not just commercial.

Africa, too, is emerging as a quiet powerhouse. Egypt and South Africa were among the top five exhibiting countries, leveraging competitive pricing, strong citrus portfolios, expanding grape and berry categories and improving logistics. Africa is becoming central to Asia’s fruit supply.

Beyond the trade floor, AFL matters because it is a barometer of Asia’s economic mood and a mirror of global supply chains. Asia is the world’s fastest‑growing fruit market. Consumer behaviour is shifting rapidly. Supply chains are being re‑engineered. Technology is transforming the industry. Exporters are recalibrating their strategies. AFL is where these shifts become visible.

AFL 2025 revealed several truths about the future - Asia will define global fruit pricing, India will inevitably become a top‑tier market, technology will separate winners from survivors, branding will matter more than ever and supply chains will become more regionalised, with Asia‑to‑Asia movement increasing.

ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA 2025 was not just an event. It was a snapshot of a continent in transition economically, culturally and strategically. Hong Kong provided the perfect backdrop a city that understands movement, reinvention and global ambition. For three days, the world’s fruit industry gathered not just to trade, but to understand the future. And the message was unmistakable Asia is not waiting for the future it is building it.

                                                                               The Blue Moon Special Report from Hong Kong

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On a humid August afternoon in New Delhi, the halls of H.K. Surjeet Bhawan carried a rare kind of energy part remembrance, part resistance, part celebration. Diplomats, students, activists, and long‑time friends of Cuba gathered not merely to mark a date, but to honour a presence. August 13, 2025, the 99th birth anniversary of Fidel Castro, unfolded less like a commemorative event and more like a reminder that some legacies refuse to fade.

For India, Fidel Castro has always been more than a distant revolutionary. He was a leader who understood the emotional geography of the Global South the hunger for dignity, the fight against domination, the dream of a multipolar world. His embrace of Indira Gandhi at the 1983 NAM Summit remains one of the most iconic images of post‑colonial solidarity and in New Delhi that memory resurfaced with warmth and clarity.

H.E. Juan Carlos Marsán Aguilera, Ambassador of Cuba to India, opened the gathering with a portrait of Fidel that felt both intimate and historic. He spoke of a young law student from eastern Cuba who refused to accept injustice as destiny, of a man shaped by the Batista coup and of a revolutionary who believed that liberation was not an act but a lifelong discipline. His words traced Fidel’s journey from the Moncada Barracks to exile in Mexico, from the Sierra Maestra to Havana a path carved through impossible odds. But what resonated most was the reminder that the Cuban Revolution was not a moment it was a transformation.

The Ambassador reflected on the early years of the revolution, when Cuba launched sweeping literacy campaigns, made healthcare and education free for all and redefined what a small nation could achieve when guided by conviction rather than fear. Cuba became the country that sent doctors where others sent weapons, teachers where others sent conditions and hope where others sent warnings. Even under the weight of the U.S. blockade, economic sabotage and the Bay of Pigs invasion, Cuba did not collapse. It adapted, resisted and redefined resilience. “Fidel Castro and the Cuban people,” the Ambassador said, “became inseparable in their identity a symbol of resistance for the world.”

The speech moved from history to the present with a quiet urgency. The blockade tightened further in recent years continues to shape Cuba’s economic reality and the pandemic added new layers of strain. Yet the Cuban people endure, innovate and resist. The Ambassador expressed deep gratitude to Indian solidarity organisations whose campaigns have supported Cuba’s public health system during its most difficult moments. It was a reminder that solidarity is not a slogan it is a practice.

As the gathering looked ahead to Fidel Castro’s approaching centenary, the mood shifted from remembrance to responsibility. The next two years will not simply mark a countdown to a date they will invite India and Cuba to revisit the ideas that once bound them sovereignty, solidarity and the courage to imagine a world beyond imposed hierarchies. Across Indian states, discussions, cultural programs and academic dialogues will unfold, not as ceremonial tributes, but as opportunities to examine why Fidel’s worldview still resonates in a century shaped by new forms of power and pressure. This year also marks 65 years of diplomatic ties between the two nations a relationship built on mutual respect, shared struggles and a common belief in a fairer world order.

The event closed not with speeches but with celebration. Athletes were honoured, trophies were awarded, and the room shifted from reflection to joy. It felt fitting. Fidel’s legacy was never meant to be confined to archives it was meant to live among people in their victories, their struggles, their celebrations.

As the gathering dispersed, one truth remained unmistakable: Fidel Castro’s story continues to speak to India because it mirrors so many of India’s own aspirations sovereignty, dignity and the right to imagine a world beyond imposed hierarchies. In New Delhi, on his 99th birth anniversary, Fidel was not remembered as a figure of the past. He was felt as a force of the present.

                                                                                                       by  The Blue Moon Desk, New Delhi

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On a monsoon-draped August evening in New Delhi, the Embassy of Chile opened its doors not to policy, but to poetry. Hosted by Ambassador Juan Angulo, the gathering was a curated celebration of The Alphabets of Latin America a lyrical atlas authored by diplomat-poet Abhay K, whose verses traverse the continent from Amazon to Zócalo, Andes to Zapotec.

The evening unfolded over Chilean wine and artisanal cheese, where diplomacy met verse in a salon of selected poet-lovers. Each guest was invited not just to listen, but to read sharing anagrams from Abhay K’s collection and verses from Chilean literary icons like Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral.

That evening marked my poetic debut reading aloud among seasoned voices, diplomats and literary patrons. Surrounded by Chilean wine and Neruda’s spirit, I found myself not performing, but belonging. The act of reading became a quiet initiation, a moment where verse bridged continents and softened formalities. In that circle, each poem felt like a passport stamped with emotion, carried across languages.

The Ambassador, a gracious host and cultural steward, welcomed each reading with warmth and wit. “Literature,” he noted, “is a bridge between peoples more enduring than treaties, more intimate than trade.” And indeed, the room echoed with that sentiment: a shared reverence for language as a vessel of memory, meaning, and connection.

Books passed from hand to hand, some already annotated with reflections, others waiting to be signed by the author himself. The air was thick with metaphor and murmurs of appreciation, punctuated by the clink of glasses and the quiet rhythm of verse.

The evening closed not with applause, but with a soft hush ,a collective understanding that poetry, like diplomacy, is an act of listening, of naming, of remembering.

In a world often divided by borders, this gathering reminded us that alphabets whether Latin or Devanagari can be stitched into bridges. And sometimes, the most powerful conversations begin not with policy, but with poetry.

                                                                                                              by Jjuliaa Gangwani

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