Primeur • English Edition • Fruit Logistica 2024

Independent magazine for the fruit and vegetable trade • Since 1986

FRUIT LOGISTICA 2024 English edition

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Table of contents 4

“First year of cooperation between OGV Bruchsal and OGM Oberkirch saw ups and downs” Hans Lehar, Managing Director of OGA / OGV Nordbaden eG

8

German wholesale markets: New food concepts and sluggish talks about locations

83 “Organic share of the total retail basket is still high” Andreas Allenspach from Rathgeb Bio 87 Product in short supply, market in full swing

16 “Papayas have become ahhn important product” Jürgen Hubounig, Managing Director of Zimpelmann SelectFruit & Co. 18 “In five years, we want to double our sales in Europe and North America” Steven Martina, Zespri 22 “It’s very difficult to grow table grapes in Jalisco and that’s why no one else does it” Alan Aguirre, President of Grupo Alta and Divine Flavor 26 “Europe will be present for purchases this year” Guillaume Liesch, Champ’Pom 30 “We must achieve gustatory excellence” Benoît Carreau, Sica Gerfruit

89 Italian melon areas are decreasing, but the supply network is growing 92 The italian pear sector shows signs of reviving 98 Spanish citrus season marked by low supply and constant transformation of the sector by investment funds 102 “Spanish papaya is achieving moderate and constant sales growth every year” Armando Pérez, of Anecoop: 106 “We want to be part of the solution” Franklin Ginus, Fairtrasa Holland: 111 Horticulture in Türkiye: chances aplenty, but with snags 115 “We use innovations to try and make our trade streams as sustainable as possible” Paul Schockman, Freshclusive

36 Portugal: Carving out its identity in the European market 40 Pfalzmarkt eG steps into the future with new investments Reinhard Oerther (Sales Director) and Hans-Jörg Friedrich (Administration Director) from Pfalzmarkt eG 46 Global Vertical Farming Market Developments in 2023 50 “30% organic by 2030 - We have solutions and are entering into dialog with producers and retailers” Yasar Yazici, Managing Director of lehmann natur 54 Greenhouse berry market and production: gaps to bridge, opportunities to seize

118 Process control, the common thread through automated avocado packaging Daniel Dammann of the Dero Groep 123 Nut market seeks balance in volatile demand and growing supply 126 Advice for Spanish greenhouse vegetable growers: Accept competition and keep doing what you do best 130 “Convenience is a growth market, and orange pumpkins are perfect for that” 135 Investing with a difference

59 Low electricity prices and residual heat open path to Scandinavia’s local production 63 BRICS’ expansion challenges the world order. Will trade flows shift, too?

70 Selling South African avocados, the modern way Donovan Lewis & Zander Ernst – Allesbeste (Avor) 74 Adapt to climate change or die is reality that faces South American fresh produce industry 78 “Volumes cultivated in Morocco will triple this year” Artur Lammert from Dreesen Frische Kräuter & Co.

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

139 “We see that British customers wish to resume the business lines they previously had in Almeria” Paco Gomez, from Agroejido 144 In days gone by the buyers understood the challenges and seasonality of fresh produce production, these days it’s all about getting produce at the cheapest possible price 147 The Moroccan early vegetable industry amid fears of the ToBRFV and export bans

Germany

Hans Lehar at the stand of OGA/OGV Nordbaden eG at expoSE 2023 in Karlsruhe

Hans Lehar, Managing Director of OGA / OGV Nordbaden eG:

“First year of cooperation between OGV Bruchsal and OGM Oberkirch saw ups and downs” OGA/OGV Nordbaden eG in Bruchsal can look back on an extremely eventful year in view of the short-notice takeover of OGM Obstgroßmarkt Mittelbaden eG. “It was a quick decision, due to the emergency situation in Oberkirch. A planned and well-prepared takeover looks quite different and will take one or two years; we just had two months. Not everything went smoothly and optimally, but it was still a successful rescue operation and an outstanding achievement by our team,” says Hans Lehar, Managing Director of OGA / OGV Nordbaden. He also spoke about the company‘s increase in turnover, plans for 2024 and the development of products like plums and organic pomegranates.

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

SUBOPTIMAL STARTING CONDITIONS The start of the sales cooperation was not easy, which was clearly due to the short notice. “Bringing together two companies that sometimes operate quite differently, within eight to ten weeks, is extremely challenging. We had to identify, check, coordinate and finally merge the respective work processes. In addition to this, OGM no longer had an experienced sales team and new colleagues first had to find their way in Oberkirch. This was also the reason why we got a call for help,” Lehar states. “On the one hand, we

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The strawberry season went well compared to the previous year. “We and most producers across Germany are quite satisfied with the strawberry campaign.

There were generally no surpluses in the berry range and prices were stable. However, due to the cost increases in recent years, revenues must be significantly higher. It remains to be seen whether consumers are prepared to keep up with this cost trend and enable producers to cover their costs. Otherwise, a decline in cultivation must be expected.”

The OGA/OGV Nordbaden team, with members of OGM Mittelbaden

had to find the right contacts and on the other, we had to quickly understand all processes. Not everything went perfectly.

We are now in the process of using working groups to shed light on the various areas and evaluate what went well and what went badly. Next year, we will start under different conditions.”

“DISTRIBUTION TAKEOVER OF THE ENTIRE PRODUCT RANGE” The entire fruit range of the Oberkirchen-based company was taken over by OGV, starting with strawberries, followed by the entire berry range, i.e. raspberries, currants, blueberries, blackberries and gooseberries. “The OGM produce is a good addition to our portfolio. In some areas, Oberkirch is larger than OGV, particularly in strawberries, currants, cherries, plums and apples. Oberkirch continued to market industrial goods and certain licensed varieties of apples itself.”

CHALLENGE DUE TO MULTIPLE PLUM VOLUMES “The biggest challenge for us was the large plum harvest in Mittelbaden and the very different ways of working and managing the preparation of goods at the large number of producers. At the beginning of the year, we first had to find out what concrete plans had already been initiated by Oberkirch for 2023. Unfortunately, there were some surprises here that didn‘t exactly make marketing any easier,” says Lehar. “We have an efficient and powerful packing station in Bruchsal. There is also a packing station in Oberkirch, but the majority of plums are delivered directly from growers in readymade containers. This was also a challenge to provide the right amount of indi

vidual packaging at any given time. There is still room for improvement here next season. A total of around 10,000 tons of plums were marketed.”

PLUMS AND GRAPES FROM MOLDOVA The company has been trading in goods from the Republic of Moldova for three to four years. “At the start of our business relations, we still had to do a lot of development work, as some certifications for the EU market were missing. Plums are the main product that we source from Moldova, primarily the late variety Stanley. As soon as we are through with the German harvest, we can supplement the season with this late variety,” says Lehar.

Apart from the plums, the company is now also gradually starting to sell grapes from Moldova. “The first attempts were made two years ago, but the certificates were lacking here too. We now work with certified companies that meet all the requirements demanded by the European market. We offer the beautiful and very tasty grape variety called Moldova.

It is a dark blue, low-seed variety with an excellent taste.”

ORGANIC POMEGRANATES LISTED IN THE FOOD RETAIL TRADE For the first time, organic pomegranates from Turkey have also been listed by the OGA/OGV in the food retail sector. “The campaign started in December 2023. We have been working on it for two years. We also want to import more berry products over the winter months, which is currently still happening on a modest scale. We mainly source berries from the Mediterranean region, Portugal, Spain, Morocco and Egypt.”

RISING COSTS, DECLINING AREAS The minimum wage increase of 25 percent in October 2022 and the high costs of materials such as cardboard, wood, film, fertilizer and pesticides have not spared OGA/OGV farms. “The situation at many farms is very serious and if no corresponding revenue is generated, farms will reduce their acreage or even stop altogether. This is a worrying development that can be felt throughout Germany. The increasing regulations, bans and requirements have also reached an intolerable level. We must all be careful not to lose German production on a grand scale.

Legislators are called upon not to overstep the mark. It would be a great pity and not in the interests of the consumer if everything had to be imported in the end.

That cannot be the solution. The shortage of skilled workers and personnel is a serious problem as well.”

TURNOVER OF OVER 90 MILLION EUROS OGV achieves a turnover of over 90 million euros this year. “This is a new record and it is primarily due to the sales cooperation with Oberkirch. However, we also had increases with our own product range, particularly asparagus, sweetcorn and our own trading business. It was a very labor-intensive, exhausting and difficult year. The 65% increase in turnover speaks for itself. We are already looking ahead again, looking forward to take on new challenges.“  mail@oga-bruchsal.de

AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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Germany

German wholesale markets: New food concepts and sluggish talks about locations ly important that product diversity and short transportation routes are maintained in the future.”

BERLIN WHOLESALE MARKET: NEW FOOD CONCEPTS IN THE GERMAN CAPITAL For years, Berlin’s wholesale market has been the hub of the fruit and vegetable sector in the region. It is also a gateway to Eastern Europe. The site in the Moabit district is one of the largest and most important fresh produce centers in Germany. To ensure that the wholesale market remains competitive in the future, the retailer community has developed its own concept with the working title ‘Berlin Food Area’ in order to convince the management of Berliner Großmarkt GmbH and Berlin’s politicians to relocate.

The central hall at the wholesale market Berlin

German wholesale markets are traditionally an important indicator of market trends and sentiment in the entire fruit and vegetable sector.

As in previous years, the FreshPlaza.de team visited several wholesale markets across Germany in 2023. While the threat of closure hangs over the Düsseldorf site like a sword of Damocles, a sustainable business model has been achieved in Essen, Stuttgart and Oldenburg, among others.

DÜSSELDORF WHOLESALE MARKET: WILL THE 31.12.2024 CLOSURE BECOME A FACT? The drawn-out legal dispute over the future of the Düsseldorf wholesale market is now coming to a close, with the final round at the Federal Administrative Court taking place on 24.04.23. However, the omens are not very good and several retailers have already announced that they will not wait for the possible closure at the end of 2024. They will be departing from the wholesale market with a heavy heart. Whether there will be a trading location elsewhere in the future is still up in the air. According to Christian Hoffmann from Becker & Wermelskirchen, the neighboring city of Neuss poses an interesting alternative due to its good logistical conditions and existing halls.

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

“Regardless of this, it would be a shame if there were to be no local wholesale store in the state capital. How can it make sense that hundreds of jobs are on the line now? How can it be that farmers have to drive their produce to Venlo in future, for our customers to buy produce from their own region over there?” the fruit wholesaler asks.

According to Hoffmann, the weekly market and specialist retailers in particular are dependent on the wholesale market. “The unusual items on offer here are simply not available in Venlo. Another thing that shouldn’t be forgotten is that the weekly markets need these premium products in order to stand out from food retailers in a highly competitive market environment. That’s why it’s particular-

However, according to CEO Nils Doerwald, this concept is not limited to the wholesale market. “It also includes topics such as research and development, the agricultural transition and the development of urban food production, the transport and food transition as well as a large producer market to significantly increase trading activities between the producers in Brandenburg and the wholesalers based in Berlin.”

STUTTGART WHOLESALE MARKET: A LIVELY TRADING HUB IN THE SOUTHWEST With around 150 market companies, including retailers and direct marketers, the Stuttgart-Wangen wholesale market is one of the liveliest fresh produce centers in southern Germany. “It’s rare for someone to leave, apart from when a business closes due to retirement. Every square meter that opens up is immediately rented out again. There is a need for several 10,000 square meters. We are getting requests for space again and again,” says Thomas Lehmann, Managing Director of Märkte Stuttgart Ltd. Wholesale market trader Alexander Rebhorn from Fuchs Ltd agrees: “We have a very large catchment area, serving customers as far away as Ulm and the Lake Constance district. In this respect, the Stuttgart wholesale market still seems to be attractive for many market traders

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FRISCHEZENTRUM ESSEN: REGIONAL WHOLESALE MARKET SCORES WITH A WIDE RANGE OF PRODUCTS With an area of around nine hectares and around a dozen companies, Frischezentrum Essen is considered a modest wholesale market. Nevertheless, the regional trading center has managed to find a promising niche and offer a wide range of products, according to Rolf Strobel, Managing Director of Frischezentrum Essen. “At many of our companies, such as Liersch, Buschhüter, Josef Hesse and Lorenz Köhlen, the next generation is already working in the business. Basically, we have found that the current market companies are, without exception, highly sustainable.”

Nowadays, two canteen kitchens called ‘Essen für Kids’ and ‘Kiddy Food’ are located on the local wholesale market site as well. The required raw materials are purchased directly on site, from neighboring companies. “Of course, this is also an important argument in favor of the wholesale market for the city of Essen. From the raw goods to the finished product - all intermediate stages can be found here in the fresh produce center.

This unique variety of products sets us

apart and we will continue to expand this service in the coming years.”

OLDENBURG WHOLESALE MARKET: PRIVATIZED WHOLESALE MARKET IN CHANGING TIMES As one of two shareholders of Großmarkt-Gesellschaft Oldenburg, David Sommer, also co-managing director of AS Frucht Ltd, is responsible for managing the privatized trading and transshipment site. Including AS Frucht, a total of four retailers are based at the

site, which primarily acts as a hub for deliveries. Despite the numerous challenges, Sommer is confident about the future. “The talks with the city of Oldenburg are still going well and the wholesale market site clearly still has a raison d’être. At product level, we are noticing that the organic market has made huge gains, particularly in the MoPro segment.

We are also seeing a growth trend in fruit and vegetables, although the proportion in relation to conventional products is still manageable.”

David Sommer from the wholesale market in Oldenburg

AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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Germany

Rolf Strobel from Frischezentrum Essen

MUNICH WHOLESALE MARKET: LOCATION GUARANTEE AND SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED As the leading wholesale market in southern Germany, Munich’s wholesale market hall has always been the transshipment point for imports from southern and central Europe, particularly Italy. “The city of Munich has recognized that without the wholesale market, the weekly markets and the four permanent markets would not exist in their current form, i.e. neither the Viktualienmarkt, the Wiener Markt, the Elisabethmarkt nor the Pasing Viktualienmarkt. However, a wholesale market is also important for all the

smaller stores. There is a great synergy effect here,” says the wholesale market management. The catchment area of the Munich wholesale market is the greater Munich area, Bavaria, Salzburg and South Tyrol.

the shortage of space combined with rising costs and many unresolved logistics issues,” said Günther Warchola, President of the Association of Bavarian Fruit Importers and Wholesalers. 

During a public event of the Bavarian Fruit Trade Association on December 12, the plans of investor Büschl for a new building were unanimously rejected by the wholesale market companies. “The unity and unanimity in the rejection of the present planning did not really surprise us, as the impossibility of the current plans are obvious. The main reasons for rejecting the current plans remain

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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Germany

Jürgen Hubounig, Managing Director of Zimpelmann Select-Fruit & Co.:

“Papayas have become an important product” Demand for papayas is currently more subdued than usual due to an oversupply from the USA, says Jürgen Hubounig, Managing Director of the import company Zimpelmann Select-Fruit GmbH & Co. KG from Cologne. “This is due to the fact that some chains have canceled their orders in the Netherlands, which is why the goods are currently being sold off via the neighboring country. There are still a lot of papayas with a size of 4.5 kg available.” The company sources papayas all year round exclusively from Brazil as air freight. “In summer, despite the high proportion of local produce, we can also market a lot of papayas. It has now become an important product.”

“T

he situation was stable until two or three months ago. Then Lidl announced that it wanted to do without air freight. However, they will certainly turn to air freight again as soon as they see what losses they incur without it. That reminds me of the situation with Fairtrade bananas at the time. At first they said that they would only sell Fairtrade bananas, but their customers defected to Aldi because the bananas were too expensive, whereupon Lidl simply went back to conventional goods,” says Hubounig.

According to him, the rejection of the air-freighted products led to a drop in demand for papayas, which in turn resulted in an oversupply in Brazil. “The price has otherwise developed very much in line with the market throughout the year, especially as air freight prices have also been stable this year, in contrast to the two to three years before.

What is challenging, however, is the fact that air freight space is becoming scarcer.

Four weeks ago, it was so hot in Brazil that the airplanes had to reduce their weight and a lot of goods were off-loaded. In the end, the airport was full of goods that had to be forwarded. The airlines then refused to accept further cargo flights, which led to many complaints. However, the situation has calmed down again in the meantime.”

POPULAR FORMOSA VARIETY He primarily trades in the Formosa variety, although the company also sells the Golden variety in small quantities.

“My customers are primarily wholesalers who want to stand out from the crowd.

Supermarkets would never buy a beautiful, yellow-colored papaya because they can‘t handle the produce. The incoming goods department would refuse to accept it because it is too yellow and too ripe, even though it is just right in terms of Brix value and ripeness. The wholesale markets want the yellow Formosa, which

Jürgen Hubounig

has a beautiful orange flesh, while the supermarkets only want produce that is as green as possible and has a long shelf life. But it doesn‘t necessarily have to taste good.”

The main customers include weekly markets, restaurants, but also independent Rewe and Edeka retailers. “The owner-managed supermarkets, which are not controlled by a head office, cooperate with the wholesale markets in a way that

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

enables them to present their product range in a customer-oriented way. This is also easier to guarantee as an independent food retailer.”

MANAGEABLE VALUE CHAIN Hubounig emphasizes that the goods he imports are grown and exported by local producers. “This provides local people, whether in Africa or South America, with both a job and a reasonable income. It‘s practically a form of active local support, which keeps the money and the value chain in the respective country. What‘s more, we don‘t use cargo planes that are chartered especially for us for transportation. Instead, we use the freight capacity in passenger aircraft. This means the planes would fly either way, making it a very effective means of transportation.”

His papaya range has developed extremely well in recent years. “However, a few years ago there were huge problems in Brazil due to storms, which also led to severe environmental disasters, even causing dams to collapse. There were no papayas at all for at least four months at that time. The pandemic followed short-

ly afterwards. The people in Brazil first had to recover from this. Many producers I know down there suffered greatly as a result.”

IMPORT SITUATION IS BECOMING MORE DIFFICULT “As importers, we have also noticed that exporters now prefer other countries due to the current political situation. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that less is paid for the goods in Germany, and on the other hand, it is also due to the spray agent regulation in the EU. It is therefore becoming increasingly difficult for us to import goods. Some items can no longer be imported at all. The proportion of imported goods from Thailand used to be three to four times higher. Many products from Colombia, such as grenadilla and passion fruit, have also disappeared completely at times. As a result, we almost lost a producer with whom we had been working for 30 years. The only products we still receive from him are physalis and passion fruit, which are guaranteed to comply with EU limits. He no longer wants to supply the other products in order to avoid being placed on the

EU blacklist of exporters and losing his export license in Colombia.”

“As importers, we don‘t have a lobby.

There are regulations regarding the use of ethephon. This is a plant hormone that occurs naturally in the plant. However, it can also be added chemically to influence the ripening time and coloration of the plant accordingly. The EU specifications for figs are so low for ethephon that it is very difficult for Brazil to export the product in such a way that the EU will accept it. Agriculture in the EU, on the other hand, has a lobby, which is why they are allowed to use ethephon in significantly higher doses than non-EU countries are permitted to do,” Hubounig concludes.  zimpelmann@select-fruit.de

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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The Netherlands

Steven Martina, Zespri:

“In five years, we want to double our sales in Europe and North America” My approach was to stay in the business but not do exactly the same thing. Being at Zespri gives me the chance to work for one of the few globally successful brands in our industry.

Do you still have the same direct contact with growers as before?

As in my previous role as cooperative chairman, I have direct contact with growers, including those on the board.

Those growers own Zespri, and that‘s an environment I’m comfortable with.

Zespri has 2,700 growers in New Zealand and 1,500 overseas who provide consumers with kiwifruit. We, for example, are interacting a lot with New Zealand growers coming over to Europe now. The pandemic prevented that for several years.

It‘s, however, evident how important it is to include them in seeing how customers here view their product and, for instance, thinking about the need for social compliance. New Zealanders had it rough, with a total lockdown. They‘re already far removed from the rest of the world, and that was only amplified recently. I regularly join online sessions, but I‘ll also be going to New Zealand next spring to attend grower meetings.

Few anticipated Steven Martina‘s move from The Greenery to Zespri.

Yet, on September 1, he started as Zespri International‘s Europe and North America Director. With that, he went from a total fruit and vegetable assortment to a single product. “In our sector, you don‘t get that many chances to work for a globally successful brand,” Steven begins.

Were you looking for a new challenge?

My switching surprised many, just not me. I’d begun carefully considering my future last October. At the time, I‘d worked at The Greenery for 18 years, including almost eight as CEO and two as the cooperative‘s chairperson. I‘m 47, and it was time for me to consider if I wanted to keep doing that for the rest of my life. I decided to open myself up to a new challenge. I‘d always turned down offers,

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

but once you begin thinking about it, new opportunities come along. I also seriously considered switching to other sectors.

But I concluded that the fruit and vegetable sector is the best. Besides, that‘s where my network and experience lie. I had had a good talk with Zespri in New Zealand, and when they asked me to make the switch, I thought, why not? I do things by feeling, and this choice felt right.

Going from an extensive fruit and vegetable range to a single product is quite a change.

The first time I visited the company, I joked, saying, ‚How hard can it be: working with a single product with two varieties?‘ People talk about fast moving consumer goods, which I associated, from my previous role, with raspberries and iceberg lettuce, not kiwis. We‘d considered that far slower moving. Now, however, I see the world behind kiwis. At The Greenery, we only dealt with kiwis once they arrived at the port, but there‘s a whole process leading up to that. Our scale and global operation also bring a certain degree of complexity. I‘m generally delighted with that singular focus.

There‘s plenty to do, and it‘s certainly not boring.

The kiwi sector has not had an easy few years…

You could say that. I don‘t think things have been as hard as these past three years since the 2010 Psa outbreak. As mentioned, New Zealand had a complete lockdown. So, there were no migrant workers, whereas normally, there are lots of backpackers helping with harvesting and packing. A lot of fruit was, thus, quickly picked and shipped, which led to increased quality problems.

And early this year, cyclone Gabrielle hit just before the new crop was shipped.

That resulted in as much as 40% less availability. And since that weather phenomenon occurred so last minute, we had to shift gears considerably. Looking back, we brought the season to a reasonable end, but it was significantly shorter.

The market was virtually empty for several weeks last summer, with no smooth transition to our European crops in Italy, Greece, and France.

Are you working on extending the European farms to prevent such a catastrophe?

The question is how catastrophic it is when you get so much global demand for your product. The most significant volumes of Zespri kiwis are grown in

New Zealand, but European cultivation gives us a vital key to guarantee yearround availability for our customers.

That cultivation will become increasingly important in the coming years because a considerable area has been planted in recent years. We hope to keep growing, but Zespri growers ultimately decide for themselves where and how fast they want to expand cultivation.

How are you dealing with the general sentiment for local product and less imported from far away?

We‘re aware of the trend toward local production. We do some of ours in Europe, but also more and more locally. Still, you shouldn‘t lose sight of productivity. We‘re assuming our role as a market leader by paying a lot of attention to sustainability.

I was part of Zespri‘s Sustainable Advisory Board and can tell you they handled that very professionally. New Zealand is an island that treats its environment with great care. They realize they‘re a long way from some markets, so there‘s plenty of commitment to a more sustainable supply chain. For example, great strides are being made with shipping companies.

We‘re committed to using 100% reusable and compostable packaging by 2025 and even want to operate carbon-positively by 2035.

What is the relationship between Kiwi Green and Kiwi Gold in Europe?

SunGold‘s rise has been unbelievably successful. In a few years, its share went from zero to being an indispensable product on store shelves. Green kiwi sales are under pressure worldwide, though. That‘s because of the yellow kiwis‘ good performance and the disease pressure on green kiwis. Last season, though, we had good results with the green kiwis. The green-yellow share in Europe is now about 50-50, but sales vary considerably by country. In Germany, for instance, SunGold‘s share is still underdeveloped. In Spain, too, many people still eat green kiwis. But in the Netherlands and Belgium, golden kiwi sales have surpassed those of the green ones.

I expect there will continue to be a market for both. I always mix the green and yellow kiwis, which, I think, gives a true taste explosion.

Now, the question you saw coming: what about red kiwis?

At present, we only grow Ruby Red commercially in New Zealand. Red kiwi are a gorgeous fruit and so popular in Asia that that continent absorbs almost all its volume. We‘re conducting a trial to commercialize the Ruby Red in Europe, but it‘s still in the early stages. Keeping the qual-

AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

19

The Netherlands

ity good further down the supply chain is still challenging. We want to organize the cultivation of Ruby Red in Europe, too, but initial cultivation trials show that it develops differently there than in New Zealand. That‘s why we‘re not yet marketing anything commercially in Europe.

We‘d rather introduce it cautiously.

Is growing Zespri kiwi berries not an obvious choice?

We‘re considering that in our breeding program, too, but we strategically decided to focus primarily on kiwis. Sales should double in the next five years, so we have much work to do. Achieving the best results requires attention and focus.

There are many more new developments in new cultivation techniques. We‘re

looking at, say, more controlled growing and harvesting several times a year. That would give growers more production certainty. Investing all your money in a crop you can only harvest once a year is quite risky. The impact of climate change was evident last year. Plus, multiple crops per year allow for better land and resource use.

What is happening with the investment fund you created?

The initiative, under the name ZAG, was designed to attract innovative problem solvers from across the globe. They must help address the major challenges we face in meeting the growing kiwi demand.

We seek parties that advance innovation in the areas of sustainable agriculture,

technology, automation, packaging, supply chain, logistics, and industrial education. Our goals exceed our capabilities.

We, thus, invite others to partner with us to help tackle the challenges affecting our fruit and people, communities and the environment‘s well-being. We spread the word about ZAG widely in the media, which generated an incredible response.

We got plenty of applications, all of which are now being reviewed. We‘re particularly eager to see the latest market developments, including from other sectors.

I‘m very curious to see what that yields.

How are organic kiwi sales going?

That‘s gradually developing. In Europe, those vary considerably per country,

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

What is your main competition?

The trend of shoppers downgrading due to high prices is our biggest challenge in the consumer landscape. People are more likely to choose unbranded products in times of inflation. Kiwis are a relatively high-value product, so there’s some trade-off with other fruits and vegetables. That‘s definitely had an impact.

Our biggest challenge is to keep properly communicating our product‘s value we represent to people. We also, naturally, have competition from other kiwi

producers, but they don‘t have our yearround variety, scale, or quality. There are hardly any alternatives for year-round, high-volume supplies. Fortunately, we still benefit from the healthy eating and snacking trend.

You use distributors. Are there still significant changes there?

We‘ve been working with most of our partners for a good 20, 30, or even 40 years. There are occasional small changes. We look per region at what’s needed to achieve optimal results. That means finding the most efficient channel per country or region. Our distributors are vital to us. They deliver fresh kiwis to the DCs daily, so they know the market and can switch quickly.

ly compact market. Zespri, however, supplies tens of millions of trays worldwide to customers in Asia whose names you may be wholly unfamiliar with, and those people are willing to pay good prices.

That, of course, ensures we‘re in healthy competition with fellow suppliers in China, Japan, but also India regarding product allocation.

What is your five-year goal?

I‘d like twice as many sales, and Europe and North America to still be Zespri‘s biggest markets. Also, a good link between production seasons in Europe and New Zealand. Above all, I want contented growers and a highly valued brand in Europe and North America.”  www.zespri.com

You are the director for Europe and North America. How much more competition is there in, say, the Asian market?

Europe and North America are, jointly, Zespri‘s biggest sales market, but China is growing especially rapidly. I was used to operating from the Netherlands in a fair-

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with several ups and downs. America is another continent with a high demand for organic products, and places like Japan and China are emerging organic markets. However, the organic kiwi share is only a few percent of our total supply. At the scale at which we produce, we must be realistic about the fact that a largescale transition to organic will bring other challenges. After all, organic doesn‘t always mean sustainable. We have, however, switched all our packaging and labels to compostable. That involves many stickers a year.

26/01/2024 18:38

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Mexico

Alan Aguirre, President of Grupo Alta and Divine Flavor

“It’s very difficult to grow table grapes in Jalisco and that’s why no one else does it” Alan Aguirre

In spring, Mexico plays a crucial role in the supply of table grapes to the US and Canadian markets. Harvest kicks off in the Guaymas growing region in Sonora in May, and gradually transitions to Hermosillo, before it finishes up in the Caborca growing region in Sonora around July. Mexico has a unique window as it comes on the heels of South America’s season and aims to be out of the market before California starts up. Back in the early 1990s, Alan Aguirre and his brother-in-law Carlos Bon Sr. and father-in-law Enrique Camou saw an opportunity to start a table grape operation in Mexico and Grupo Alta was formed.

“W

hile the climate to grow table grapes in Mexico was ideal, the lack of nutrients in the soil made it very challenging at first,” says Alan Aguirre, President of Grupo Alta. The founders started doing their research and attended some organic conferences. “We learned that

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the more we gave back to the soil, the healthier the plants became. As a result, we became the first company to be organically certified in Mexico.” Over the years, Grupo Alta’s table grape production expanded and today, the company represents approximately 25 percent of

all table grape production out of Mexico.

“We are proud to be the largest exporter of organic and Fair Trade certified table grapes,” added Aguirre. Close to 95 percent of all supply is exported to the United States and Canada with a small share going to Asia and Europe.

ADVANCING THE SEASON While the three growing regions provide stable supply in spring, growers are feeling the effects of climate change. “The trend we’ve witnessed in recent years is that the Mexican season starts later and later.” After years of research, Grupo Alta started investing in advancing its table grape season by expanding into the Jalisco growing region—a micro-climate situated in a flat, tropical valley surrounded by mountains and several volcanos.

“The most significant factor in establishing table grape operations in Jalis-

Table grape ranch

co is the advantage of bringing grapes to market earlier, towards the end of March.

The Jalisco operation allows us to be the first producer of grapes in North America during a time when the market is hungry for grapes.” By the end of March, Peru’s second harvest is done, and Chile is about finished or has its last containers on the water. Grupo Alta’s Jalisco operation, called Don Mario, offers fresh, high-qual-

ity grapes during a time of limited supply and they are just two days away from customers’ shelves. “The region offers a great growing window for our company and complements our year-round offering of table grapes.”

CHALLENGES “The honest reality of growing in Jalisco is that it is very difficult to grow grapes

here and that’s why no one else does it,” commented Aguirre. “There are so many obstacles that need to be addressed, including the weather, the water source, land, logistics, labor, etc. However, going into this project, we knew it would be a challenge and I was very confident in our personnel to piece together a plan that would succeed in our largest and most ambitious agronomical investment in

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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Mexico

helped us offering our customers a brand they can rely on - someone they can trust, which makes them eager to come back for repeat purchases.” The Don Mario program in Jalisco starts in the final days of March and harvests grapes throughout the month of April. As the vineyard matures, the intention is for the season to last into the first weeks of May, connecting directly with the Sonoran table grape season.

Michael DuPuis of Divine Flavor

company history.” The upcoming season will be Grupo Alta’s 6th season in Jalisco and the company is relieved to be past the difficult stages as the obstacles have been addressed and solved. “It has taken many years to get it right, but with all the latest innovations for grape growing, including new packing facilities, proper installation of shading for the vineyards, and newly built housing for all the collaborators/workers, this operation fills a significant void in the market. “Experience greatly played a role in our success at Don Mario, and we feel that last year, we navigated through those last challenges that will allow us to have one of our best seasons since starting this project. Don Mario has become the young

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adult within our operation and ultimately fulfills the goal of being able to supply customers with great-quality products 365 days a year.”

MARKETING COMPANY Despite the early challenges, growing table grapes in Jalisco is crucial for Grupo Alta and for its marketing arm Divine Flavor that was opened up in 2006. “Don Mario has allowed us to produce grapes in North America outside the typical growing times, enabling us to supply our customers with fruit when the market needs it, especially our retail partners who have supported this vision since the start,” says Michael DuPuis of Divine Flavor. “Our marketing arm has

SPECIALTY GRAPES “It has always been our mission to grow organic, flavorful, and high-quality grapes for the North American market,” shared DuPuis. “We want to excel in everything we do and therefore, the Don Mario ranch only grows the best grapes, which are specialty varieties.” These include Cotton Candy, Candy Heart, Sweet Celebration, Sweet Globe, AUTUMNCRISP, Gummyberries, and Jellyberries. At the time of writing, the group has a few new varieties in the pipeline that are currently being trialed. The focus for these new varieties is centered around innovation in the red seedless category by bringing to market varieties with high nutrition levels and a sweeter taste.

The Don Mario vineyard is named after Aguirre’s father, Mario H. Aguirre Romo.

“He was a man driven by hard work and determination. My father was able to accomplish so much from an early age and he had the resilience to overcome adversity with any obstacle thrown his way,” said Aguirre. In the 1970s, he was Mexico’s main poultry farmer and egg producer and while he unfortunately passed away at a very young age, his tenacity and passion were humbling. For that reason, the farm was named after him.  mdupuis@divineflavor.com

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France

Guillaume Liesch, Champ’Pom:

“Europe will be present for purchases this year” Champ’pom, a family-owned company based in Saint-Rémy-sousBroyes in Champagne, just 1 hour away from the capital, produces and markets a wide range of potatoes. Olivier Delaitre, the 9th generation at the helm of the group, decided to expand production and established the trading company in 2009.

T

oday, the company sells nearly 35,000 tons of potatoes per year, sourced from its own production supplemented by a network of partner producers, with 15% serving the French market. The rest is destined for export, mainly to Spain, Italy, and Eastern European countries.

While the company collaborates with some historical German clients, it aims to increase volumes in that destination in the future, as Germany is a significant consumer of tubers. From bulk to big bags, and a range of packaged options, from 2 to 25 kg nets, Champ’pom can ship any type of packaging from the Champagne region and other production regions based on its clients‘ needs. The company has recently expanded its activities to include plant sales alongside its production and marketing endeavors.

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

Guillaume Liesch, Commercial Director, discusses the current export campaign outlook, trends, and the new challenges faced by the French potato industry.

PLANT AVAILABILITY: THE NEW CHALLENGE FOR THE POTATO SECTOR Champ’Pom has 12,000 tons in its own production for this campaign. “We have marketed an average of 47 tons per hectare net this year.” While the quality is below that of the previous year for early varieties “due to excess water at the end of the cycle that complicated defoliation, late varieties, on the other hand, have good quality and show good yields.” This year‘s production poses numerous challenges for operators, including health risks, reduced use of insecticides, labor

shortage issues for processing, visual quality requirements, and internal and external defect reduction “to ensure the best possible quality.” However, it is the availability of potato plants that is causing concern. This issue was raised in November 2023 by FEDEPOM (National Federation of Potato, Garlic, Onion, Shallot, and Vegetable Wholesalers), reporting an 11% decrease in certified plant production in France, equivalent to 60,000 tons less. “The cultivated area in 2023 was 21,000 hectares compared to 23,500 in 2022.” According to the federation, this situation is explained by “collectors‘ choices based on varieties and a stop or a significant decrease in production areas by producers.” Guillaume adds that, in addition to the availability issue, there were difficulties in planting fields in the last campaign.

EUROPE WILL BE PRESENT FOR PURCHASES THIS YEAR “Our European clients come to buy our potatoes for the quality and diversity of our range.” Champ’Pom also produces potatoes exclusively for export, with no

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

market in France, such as red consumption potatoes like Mozart and Esmee.

“Due to a lack of availability in France at the end of the campaign, around April and June, we import potatoes from Egypt to supply our clients throughout the year. Origins that were not extensively explored in the past have become opportunities for our company. We are able to offer supply solutions today for both the fresh and industrial markets to our current or future clients.”

“Europe will be present for purchases this year“, notes Guillaume Liesch, with a market that was absent last year. “Poland will also be involved due to a decrease in local production compared to the previous year.” Prices, on the other hand, “are very attractive this year, and export

demand has been strong since the end of August” (Italy, the Netherlands, and Greece imported more French potatoes between August and October than last year). Very high-quality merchandise is selling for over €400 per ton and €300 per ton for average quality, “a very good price at this time.”

NOTABLE MARKET DEVELOPMENTS FOR EXPORTS? Guillaume Liesch has observed a change in market trends, especially in the fresh/ industrial ratio. “The rise of industrial potatoes, such as fries and chips, in France and Europe plays a significant role in the fresh market.” Because although these two markets are very different, they are strongly correlated. “Since the industrial market can capture certain lots original-

ly intended for fresh use in case of shortages, this often creates greater demand and higher prices.”

WHICH POTATO IN GERMANY? “The French and German markets are quite complementary in several aspects,” explains Guillaume, referring to consumer preferences. “Firm-fleshed potatoes are the varieties mostly consumed in France and Germany, more than in the rest of Europe.” On size requests as well: “We favor the export of intermediate sizes 40/60 to Germany, exporting oversized ones to other destinations such as Spain, Italy, or Eastern European countries.”  guillaume@champpom.com commerce@champpom.com

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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France

Benoît Carreau, Sica Gerfruit:

“We must achieve gustatory excellence”

What is the position of French apples on international markets today?

How does it manage to stand out? What are the new challenges and consumer expectations? Between gustatory excellence, quality, and innovation, Benoît Carreau, the sales director of Mylord‘, shares his vision of the requirements that the French apple must now meet.

Because the French apple reportedly has a “card to play” to maintain its position and even conquer new markets.

M

ylord‘ is the brand of producers from Sica Gerfruit, which brings together 10 families of producers and produces no less than 45,000 tons of apples per year on 850 hectares. Nestled in the heart of the Loire Valley, Sica Gerfruit‘s orchards are labeled Bee Friendly and Eco-Responsible Orchards. Some are produced organically, and all are grown using agroecology. Mylord‘ exports to the United Kingdom, Spain, Benelux, Scandinavia, and also to Germany, the company‘s historical market, through its struc-

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

ture based in Düsseldorf and led by Frank Berning. The Grand Export is managed by the ‚Harmonie‘ structure.

This year, French apples benefited from a “very active start to the season.” Better prices and sustained demand in the markets due to empty stocks at the beginning of the campaign. A strong but especially later demand than last year, accentuating the “shortage phenomenon.” Another advantage for this 2023/2024 campaign: “the qualitative and storage poten-

tial much greater than last year, which strongly encouraged exports.”

“TODAY, THE CONSUMER WANTS TO ENJOY EVERY KILO OF APPLE PURCHASED.” Benoît Carreau has observed a change in consumption trends in certain European markets, including Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Benelux countries.

These countries are now very focused on premium products. The priority? “Quality! We must achieve a consumer yield of 100%. Today, the consumer wants to enjoy every kilo of apple purchased.” In this context of purchasing power that does not spare our European neighbors, “we must provide an impeccable product. A few years ago, the organic consumer, for example, bought organic because it was organic. Now, he prefers products where he is sure not to have any loss; it has become the number one criterion,

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and if it‘s organic, it‘s a plus.” This is what attracts British consumers, “because the French apple meets the requirements and expectations in terms of juice, sugar, firmness, and shelf life.”

“IMPROVING THE CONSUMER EXPERIENCE” So, the challenge today for the French apple is to “become the excellence of the European apple, but without falling into elitism,” warns Benoît Carreau, at the risk of moving into a niche segment and seeing markets shrink. But to achieve this goal, “it is necessary to maintain a strong qualitative promise and improve the consumer experience through the pursuit of excellence in traditional and standard varieties.” A search for improvement that is illustrated perfectly with the development of the Gala variety, which became ‚Gala de Mylord‘ in 2014. Because the priority remains the “search for satisfaction

and consumer pleasure. We must always ask ourselves if we are not going to disappoint the end customer.”

ENDURING THROUGH A “DIFFERENTIATING APPROACH” While the French apple is not known for its competitiveness, it has nevertheless managed to stand out from the competition in the most demanding markets: taste, quality, and production methods.

“The French apple is not the cheapest to produce, certainly, there are also many legislative and social constraints, but it brings something extra through a differentiating approach.” An approach initiated nationally through the Eco-Responsible Orchards label created in 2010.

“France has always attempted differentiation through taste but also through agro-environmental approaches. And Eco-Responsible Orchards makes a difference: fruits of optimal quality, rich in

taste, and grown using environmentally friendly and biodiversity-respecting methods. These are the fruits that can bring satisfaction to the consumer and drive purchasing behavior.” It is this added value that has managed to conquer the grand export as well as Asia. “The Asian market can now buy French apples with confidence because it knows what it is buying, without fearing disappointment.”  bcarreau@mylord.fr

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Lebanon alternative supplier for European market Despite the tense situation in the Middle East, Lebanese fruits and vegetables exporters remain steady, given that their most important asset, the excellent quality of the products, has not lost any of its strength even in these turbulent times.

For the second year in a row, Lebanon has its own stand at Fruit Logistica where enthusiastic growers and exporters are delighted to welcome visitors and interested buyers.

Although fruit and vegetable cultivation is highly developed in Europe, there is still plenty of room on the market for imported products, not only from the Southern Hemisphere when production on the European continent is in the low season, but also for specific product groups that are not grown, or only to a small extent, on the European fields. Imports from Morocco, Egypt and Israel are significant and growing year after year.

Also Lebanon is presenting itself as an alternative supplier for the European market, not only arguing for the high quality of its fruits and vegetables, but also for its geographical proximity and the slightly different marketing window compared to the European origins. Grapes, avocados and carrots are a good example.

of Koper in Slovenia is also a possibility – and is even a faster option – but is not preferred due to the higher cost of subsequent road transport.

According to Fadi, Lebanese growers produce around 130,000 tons of grapes annually, of which 20,000 to 30,000 tons are exported. “There is clearly still room for growth in cultivation and export, but I am betting on Crimson seedless, a free variety that does well in the European market, especially towards the end of the year, our peak period.”

Avocados While professional avocado cultivation in Lebanon was virtually non-existent about 10 years ago, the acreage has increased significantly since 2020, given avocados’ skyrocketing popularity at home and especially overseas.

Many growers are switching from citrus to the more profitable avocado. “And come a bad banana year, I’m sure some of that acreage will be converted to avocado orchards, too,” says Abdallah Fadel, of Fadel Trading Company.

Greenskins grown in Lebanon are marketed mainly in the Middle East, Hass, and to a lesser extent, Lamb Hass in Europe.

“Lamb Hass is easier to grow and isn’t sensitive to off-years like Hass. And even though European clients traditionally prefer

Grapes As for grapes, the marketing window from October to December is unique, says Fadi Sarkis of Natagri. “Europe is a very interesting market for Lebanese grape growers, because demand is high in the last three months of the year, travel times are manageable and the market is large, wellstructured and ethical,” says Fadi, who indicates that the knowhow regarding European preferences in terms of varieties, consumer experience, packaging, MRLs and all sorts of specifications is growing in the sector.

Exports to the lucrative market of Western and Northern Europe usually go through the port of Rotterdam. The port

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Hass, you can see the acreage of Lamb Hass is also expanding in Valencia, Spain.”

For the second year in a row, Spain’s top avocados cultivation area – the Costa Tropical - is being plagued by water shortages. The time has, thus, perhaps come for the young Lebanese avocado sector to seize the day and sign export contracts in Europe, thereby laying the foundation for further cooperation. Because in Lebanon, water availability is not yet an issue.

has visited the Netherlands several times, carrot cultivation in Lebanon is not that different from that in Europe: “The seeds, machinery, cultivation techniques and crop protection products are all the same.”

In addition to grapes, avocados and carrots, other fruits and vegetables with export potential are also grown in Lebanon, including bananas, watermelons, citrus, stone fruit, cherries, apples, almonds, potatoes, onions, lettuce, tomatoes and other greenhouse vegetables.

Carrots Lebanon not only grows delicious fruit, there is also plenty of room for open field vegetables such as carrots, potatoes and onions. Carrots are not a major product in the country, but with seeds from the Netherlands and France, Ahmad Ossama Khodr of Fresh Products manages to harvest, process and market some 32,000 tons per year. The average yield is 70-80 tons per hectare.

You can visit the Lebanese pavilion at Fruit Logistica at Stand D.10 – Hall 22, where the following companies will be happy to assist interested visitors:

Supply is even year-round, thanks to cultivation locations at different altitudes. In Akkar, in the north of the country, production is from mid-January to June, and in the Bekaa Valley, from June to December. According to Ahmad, who

3 Bamo Zgheib

1 Agrotica 2 All Fresh 4 Debbane Agri 5 Fadel Trading Company 6 Farmers Valley 7 Fresh Products 8 Lebanese Avocado 9 Nasr Rahme SAL 10 Natagri 11 The Quinta-Group

About CBI The Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI) supports the transition to inclusive and sustainable economies. CBI always starts from the perspective of local SMEs, strengthening their economic, social and environmental sustainability through the export of products to European and regional markets.

CBI has 50 years of experience and has worked with over 10,000 SMEs from 70 countries to build sustainable trade relationships with European buyers.

CBI prepares carefully selected companies with the skills and knowledge they need to enter the European market.

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Portugal

Portugal: Carving out its identity in the European market The projections for Portugal‘s exports of fruit, vegetables, and flowers, as indicated by data from Portugal Fresh, reveal a positive outlook for the agricultural sector, says Pedro Marques, export manager for Portuguese fresh produce exporter Frutas Classe: “Portugal is projected to surpass 2,000 million euros in revenue, showcasing a robust growth rate of approximately 10-15% compared to the previous year, which highlights the country‘s growing influence in international markets. The growth in both value and volume of international sales suggests a strong demand for Portuguese fruit, vegetables and flowers in global markets.”

BERRIES: INVESTMENTS PAYING DIVIDENDS “Portugal‘s strategic focus on the cultivation of high-quality berries, such as raspberries, blueberries and strawberries, reflects a growing trend in the global agricultural market. This investment has not only positioned Portugal as a key player in the production of these sought-after fruits but has also contributed significantly to the country‘s agri-

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cultural and economic development.”

“The favourable climate and soil conditions in specific regions of Portugal contribute to the production of berries with exceptional taste and quality. Portugal‘s commitment to

MAJOR BUYERS Spain Spain emerges as the largest buyer, representing 37% of the total value of exports. Proximity and economic ties likely contribute to Spain‘s significant share.

France France follows closely, accounting for 13% of the exported value. The French market‘s demand for Portuguese agricultural products reflects the quality and diversity of the offerings.

The Netherlands With a 10.5% share, the Netherlands plays a substantial role as a buyer. The country‘s position as a major hub for agricultural trade in Europe likely contributes to its significant share.

Germany Germany represents 7.5% of the total exported value, indicating a solid presence in one of Europe‘s largest economies.

United Kingdom The United Kingdom accounts for 6.4% of the value of exports, highlighting the importance of the British market for Portuguese agricultural products.

high-quality production ensures that its strawberries meet stringent international standards, positioning our country as a reliable supplier.”

CITRUS PRODUCTION A TESTAMENT TO NATION’S COMMITMENT Portugal‘s citrus production, currently the fourth largest in Europe, has become a key component of the country‘s agricultural success story, Marques states: “Portugal boasts an extensive citrus pro-

duction covering 21,681 hectares, a testament to the nation‘s commitment to this sector. The total production of 434.3 thousand tonnes highlights the significance of citrus farming in the country‘s agricultural landscape.”

“IGP Citrus from the Algarve places Portugal‘s citrus industry a strong emphasis on maintaining high-quality standards throughout the cultivation and harvesting processes. Compliance with

European standards ensures that the citrus fruits meet the expectations of both domestic and international markets.”

SWEET POTATOES: A BELIEF IN THE PORTUGUESE POTENTIAL “In the last few years, there has been tremendous growth in the sweet potato market in Europe, this growth is also due to the development of different sweet potato varieties, colors, and tastes. Force

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Hall 3.2 Booth C02

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of a great work done by the biggest sweet potato breeder Nativaland in Portugal.”

“It‘s promising to hear that there is a belief in the potential of Portuguese sweet potatoes as a major production, particularly in light of global warming and specific favorable conditions for growth. Portugal‘s climate, with its mild temperatures and suitable soil conditions in certain regions, can indeed be advantageous for sweet potato cultivation. Efficient water resource utilization in Portugal, coupled with its favorable climate, can bolster sweet potato cultivation. This strategic approach enhances sustainability, ensuring a consistent supply and strengthening Portugal‘s reputation as a dependable and environmentally conscious source of sweet potatoes in the global market. Portugal has the potential to reduce reliance on imports, enhance food security, and support European standards of production.”

liberry project, an exclusive and confidential strawberry breeding initiative, that blends traditional methods with cutting-edge technology. The project‘s core focus lies in traditional plant breeding through hybridization, where controlled crosses between genotypes of interest pave the way for the development of novel strawberry varieties boasting superior characteristics.”

To expedite the usually decade-long process of creating new varieties, Resiliberry integrates molecular techniques and in vitro culture. “State-of-the-art laboratories equipped with the latest tech-

INVESTMENTS TO DEAL WITH CHALLENGES Frutas Classe is proactively positioning itself for the future by addressing anticipated challenges over the next 30 years, Marques emphasizes: “Our major investments these days are concentrated in two areas:

The first consists of enhancing consumer confidence.

The company is implementing automatic end-toend traceability, capturing relevant data from both upstream and downstream processes. A cutting-edge software, leveraging blockchain technology, is in development to introduce a Smart Label. This label will digitally convey comprehensive information about the final product, including its impact level, showcasing the company‘s commitment to sustainability. Frutas Classe is also evaluating new materials, innovative auditing methodologies, emergent technologies, and bi-directional communication concepts. This comprehensive strategy not only ensures transparency in the supply chain but also fosters consumer trust and engagement.” The second biggest project in Frutas Classe started in 2021. “We launched the Resi-

nology play a pivotal role in this acceleration, enabling the use of molecular markers during the selection process.

This approach not only hastens the pace, but also enhances the efficacy of variety selection by scrutinizing the DNA of potential candidates.”

ly chosen plants. This step aims to yield pathogen-free plants, ensuring both the preservation and genetic uniformity of the selected varieties. Through this fusion of traditional and modern methodologies, We are pioneering a paradigm shift in strawberry breeding, ushering in a new era of efficiency, resilience, and agricultural advancement.”

THE PORTUGUESE IDENTITY Promoting Portugal’s agricultural products is important to Marques: “Investing in authentic and demarcated products like Pera Rocha do Oeste DOP and Algarve IGP citrus fruits further solidifies our dedication to preserving and promoting Portugal‘s iconic agricultural heritage. This strategic approach not only contributes to national excellence, but also positions our brands as reliable sources of high-value, sustainably produced, and regionally significant agricultural products for discerning consumers in Europe and beyond.”

“Agriculture in Portugal confronts significant challenges, beginning with water scarcity exacerbated by climate change. The imperative to enhance production clashes with EU restrictions on phytopharmaceutical products, posing a hurdle for productivity. Additionally, competition from nonEU countries, not bound by equivalent agricultural sustainability regulations, introduces complexities.

Addressing these challenges mandates innovative water management, sustainable practices, and strategic policies to fortify Portugal‘s agricultural resilience, competitiveness, and adherence to EU standards. Collaborative efforts across sectors are essential to navigate this multifaceted landscape and foster a robust and sustainable agricultural future,” Marques concludes.  pedromarques@frutasclasse.pt

“The Resiliberry project goes beyond mere genetic innovation. It embraces the forefront of biotechnology, initiating the in vitro multiplication of the carefulAGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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Germany

Reinhard Oerther (Sales Director) and Hans-Jörg Friedrich (Administration Director) from Pfalzmarkt eG:

Pfalzmarkt eG steps into the future with new investments “As a result of the numerous crises in recent years, producers have been confronted with cost increases regarding production, electricity, fertilizers, etc.. Added to this are issues such as personnel costs and the lack of availability of staff. Overall, however, it was not a bad year. Of course, prices could be a little higher. However, the trade has heard the messages and is aware that adequate producer prices are the key prerequisite for the domestic and sustainable cultivation of fresh fruit and vegetables. After all, in the end it is also about the availability of goods and security of supply,” says Reinhard Oerther, Pfalzmarkt eG Sales Director. We looked back on the 2023 financial year with him and Chief Administrative Officer Hans-Jörg Friedrich and talked about current trends and developments in the vegetable market.

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“I

n 2023, we were once again able to use our climatic advantage in the Palatinate and bring our produce to market three to four weeks earlier. Being on the market early usually also means starting with a good price level.” The most popular and most frequently produced products at Germany‘s market leader for homegrown fruit and vegetables continue to include bunching onions, radishes and leaf lettuce.

COSTS AND AVERAGE PRICES HAVE RISEN Friedrich also points out various changes in Mutterstadt: “Pfalzmarkt no longer sells its goods directly to customers, but

aging systems, GPS systems, etc. We are currently working on a new operational program, which will be available from 2024. We are also planning to build a second PV system in 2025. A battery storage system with 2.5 megawatts will also be added. The surplus electricity we produce during the day can be used at night, for continuous cooling of our hall areas,” Friedrich explains.

only via our subsidiary Gemüsegarten Rheinpfalz. The subsidiary‘s goods sales have risen by 44 percent and were worth around 115 million as of November. Average prices were 25 percent higher than in the previous year. After all, they had to work with 30 percent higher production costs. If this is not absorbed by the market to some extent, producers will be less willing to continue producing.”

HYDROPONIC LETTUCE AND LETTUCE WITH ROOT BALLS IN VOGUE “Hydroponic lettuce and lettuce with root balls attached have established themselves as a trend. At the same time, there has been a downward trend in cut lettuce for the past three to four years. In the trade, more tests are also being carried out in the areas of organic lettuce, solo lettuce, etc.. We also want to take a closer look at this. In view of the high material costs, however, it is not easy to devote ourselves intensively to the subject of glasshouse production. Nevertheless, we will continue to work on it and see what the future brings,” Oerther emphasizes.

According to Friedrich, what has been noticeable in the last one or two years in the fall and winter business is that there has been a shift towards pointed cabbage and away from white cabbage. “This is probably due to the fact that pointed cabbage is slightly smaller and the leaves are more tender, which is why smaller households are opting for smaller cabbage vegetables.”

NEW INVESTMENTS IN THE FUTURE In order to meet the challenges of the present and the future, the company has already invested 2.5 million euros in a photovoltaic system in 2023, which covers the entire roof area of the fresh produce logistics hub in Mutterstadt, which went into operation last year, and will make an important contribution to Pfalzmarkt eG‘s goal of energy independence. Further investments are also planned for the EU-funded producer cooperative in 2024. “The approximately six million euros will be used, among other things, for our production facilities, i.e. in washing, sorting and pack-

Particularly with regard to the current electricity prices, this is essential. “The electricity price for next year is 50 percent higher than before the energy crisis and operating costs also remain high.

We were lucky in the summer of 2023 because the weather was very changeable and we didn‘t have any excessively long, hot phases. As a result, electricity costs were slightly lower than in 2022. That could change again in 2024.

Refrigeration is the be-all and end-all for us when it comes to fruit and vegetables. This makes it all the more important to work with better, revised structures. Topics such as digitalization and sustainability are very important to us.

That‘s why we want to increase the number of e-vehicles in our fleet and install charging stations in the near future.”

The old auction clock and one of the largest rooftop PV systems in the southwest represent both tradition and modernity at Pfalzmarkt eG.

STAGNATING ORGANIC SHARE “We would like to expand the organic sector. However, hardly anyone is interested in converting their production anymore, because one earns almost nothing with it,” Friedrich points out. Nevertheless, the company is keeping an eye on the organic market. “Inflation and rising costs have led to a noticeable decline in organic volumes. The organic share will not disap-

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Germany

pear, but the range will probably change in terms of selection and breadth over the season. We have also heard from our customers that certain products have been completely removed from the range, both conventional and organic.”

It is also clear that discounters‘ market shares are increasing and their product ranges are expanding accordingly. “Due to rising food prices, consumers seem to be tending more towards entry-level products. The large-scale retailers have benefited from their premium products in previous years, but this is now becoming their downfall,” says Oerther.

YOUNG AND MOTIVATED PRODUCERS “Innovative niche products such as puntarelle and edamame, don not score may points with food retailers, whereas we can sell smaller quantities to whole-

Many discussions with producers took place in November and December, focusing on the topic of seasonal planning. “The mood among producers has improved again,” says Oerther. “You can see that some producers are investing, thinking ahead and have already made efforts to acquire larger planting machines, among other things. Issues such as personnel costs, time savings, optimization of work processes, etc. are also high on the agenda. Unfortunately, politicians are sending out the wrong signals - as is currently the case with agricultural diesel or Hans-Jörg Friedrich and Reinhard Oerther the taxation of agricultural machinery. As a result, sale markets, weekly markets and farm farms are rather reluctant to make more stores. Growing these crops involves a lot extensive investments.” of effort, for low yields. But diversity is an important topic, especially for young As a cooperative, it is also important to people, young producers and smaller buy as much as possible from the producbusinesses, and so we have put it on our tion companies. “Some farms have shown agenda for 2024,” says Oerther. that the path from harvest to packaging can be made even more efficient. The idea “It‘s the small businesses that are experis therefore to establish a central packing imenting with new products. These are station at the Pfalzmarkt. At other proyoung, motivated people who are keen ducer cooperatives, packaging can be to try something new. But of course they carried out directly in the field thanks to are worried about their future. That‘s the use of large machines on correspondwhy it‘s important to show that a year ingly large areas. Although in total, we like this is not a one-off. The trade must have a huge cultivation area as well, we understand this as well. We need to keep have much smaller substructures, which producer prices at these levels and conhave the advantage that they increase tinue to support production. Otherwise, biodiversity.”  we won‘t be able to talk about product info@pfalzmarkt.de availability and regionality in Germany in a few years‘ time.”

Want to make sure your potato shelf stands out?

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43

The new R&M building has been open since June 2023 on Peterselieweg in theDutch Fresh Port Rotterdam (Ridderkerk). R&M & Looije Packing have joined forces to support national and international suppliersof fruit and vegetables.

In the coldstores there is room for 10.000 pallet positions, so the building is perfect for processing all kind of orders, from large to small. R&M is responsible for in- and outbound, stock management, cooling, customs, quality control and transshipment. Looije Packing is responsible for sorting the fruit and vegetables according to the quality policies and package them according to the customer's wishes, ranging from a large scale of repacking to packaging options. With two companies under one roof, we can act quickly and we can often process the orders on the same day, depending on the size.

By working closely with each other, we as companies know how to make optimal use of each other and what we are good at, namely the storage and packaging of fruit and vegetables. The strength of our collaboration is to operate as one team, to quickly coming up with a solution for the customer’s demands

Take a look at our new location

Large storage capacity (Re)packing vegetables and hard / soft fruit Dutch Fresh Port Rotterdam

Global

Global Vertical Farming Market Developments in 2023 Let’s not make this another depressing story about the hardship the vertical farming market has faced since the beginning of 2022. It’s time to dive into 2023 trends and share some success stories on the way.

I

t seems that second-generation farmers have learned from the mistakes of larger corporations, effectively minimizing the risks encountered by their predecessors. The only viable solution is to either pivot business models or strengthen them by diversifying sales channels, entering either B2B or B2C markets to spread risk. However, this is easier said

than done, as B2C ventures may require more investment in marketing, logistics, product diversification, etc., which comes at a price.

In terms of crops, the primary focus continues to be on lettuce, herbs, and microgreens. Could this be because these crops are ‚easier‘ to cultivate successfully com-

pared to fruiting crops? Additionally, producing them at scale makes it easier to secure long-term deals with retailers.

CEA AND RETAIL When dealing with retailers in rigid regions like Scandinavia and North America, numerous new deals have been closed with vertical farms. This is in response to the growing challenges that open-field growers are facing due to climate change. Consequently, many retailers found themselves with empty shelves throughout the year.

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04-01-2024 13:37

ASTRA will participate in Fruit Logistica and Anuga Food Tec!

Fruit Logistica Hall 2.1|C-35 7-9 Feb 2024 Messe Berlin

Anuga Food Tec Hall 10.1|G-018 19-22 Mar 2024 Koeln messe

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We are excited to announce that, for the first time ever, we have a stand at Fruit Logistica.

We invite you to come visit us in Berlin!

Find us in hall 1.2 Stand B-34 See you in Berlin! the quality of passion www.chainn.nl

shift is that it is sometimes deemed too expensive for the cultivation of an entire product. A term fitting for the Canadian and American vertical farming markets is ‚risk-taking,‘ as they continually push the growing envelope. Berries remain the center of attention for retailers, partnerships, and research projects introduced in the past year. The question arises: why are North Americans so inclined towards this so-called ‚cash crop‘? Perhaps indoor prices can outperform import prices through consistency, quality, and extended shelf life.

GLOBAL NEW PROJECTS Southeast Asia has significantly led the way in new projects set to be realized in 2024 or the following year. Some of these projects are integrated with shopping malls, residential buildings, or expansion schemes from existing companies. Following closely, the Middle East has been making significant strides in constructing large facilities to enhance national food security.

In North America and Europe, various research-based fundings have been secured to explore the viability of staple crops, fruiting crops such as berries, synergies in vertical farming and renewables, and the overall potential of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA)

UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE? A notable trend that has surfaced frequently is the reassessment of technologies or techniques employed within vertical farms. Growers have come to realize that not every innovation is an added benefit; some may prove to be a burden, particularly in terms of operational expenses (OpEx). Depending on their size, some growers have optimized their farms by eliminating excess technology, such as robots and ‚AI‘ sensors, and reverting to more traditional practices overseen by head growers.

Indoor growers, including greenhouses and vertical farms, have emerged as a solution to address these issues in the future. However, this comes at a price.

The question arises: are consumers willing to pay more for a head of lettuce or a bunch of tomatoes when these products are available year-round? This is a dilemma that retailers will have to navigate.

CROP TRENDS When it comes to crop variety, changes have been observed in the market, particularly in the use of vertical farming in the Benelux region. Vertical farming is still widely adopted for cultivating young plants, but it seems to be a growing focal point for European and North American growers. The reason for this

However, the level of automation in a farm remains a topic of ongoing discussion, given the multitude of factors to consider. Some believe that optimization can be achieved through partial automation, such as packaging and harvesting machines. On the other hand, others argue that quality is best ensured through human intervention, as manual labor can provide that final check before products reach the plates of consumers.

Let’s see what 2024 has to offer… 

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Germany

Yasar Yazici at Fruit Logistica 2023

Yasar Yazici, Managing Director of lehmann natur:

“30% organic by 2030 - We have solutions and are entering into dialog with producers and retailers” “The best-selling products from lehmann natur in 2023 included tomatoes, ginger and peppers,” says Yasar Yazici, Managing Director of lehmann natur. In terms of production areas, the organic company also presented figures from the Netherlands, Brazil and China. “The production areas must be considered individually depending on the product and country of origin. As in previous years, the production areas at the Dutch farms we work with continued to stagnate.

Especially in greenhouse cultivation, which is partly due to higher wages and gas prices and the competitive situation with Spain and warmer countries.” Spain in particular was important for the company in 2023. “We mainly source vegetables and citrus fruits from Spain.”

I

n addition to the already established ginger cultivation countries such as China and Peru, the company has launched another project in Brazil and is gradually expanding the cultivation area.

“Compared to 2022, there has been an increase of around 10 to 15 percent in cultivation areas in China in 2023 due to increased demand for ginger. Producers were also able to increase their acreage due to attractive market prices.” Howe-

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ver, Yazici cited the standards for EU-certified organic production as a challenge.

“Some producers have partially converted their farms from organic farming to conventional cultivation. In addition, there is an insignificant price difference between organic and conventional products.” The company is in constant contact with producers regarding new products. “However, one focus topic across all products is the further development of organic

cultivation, as we want to move towards greater resilience to climate change. We can differentiate ourselves from other market players with our range of fruit from permaculture cultivation,” says Yazici. One product that lehmann natur has recently started trading in is organic passion fruit, which the organic company sources from a long-standing lime partner of a small farmers‘ cooperative in Colombia. Cultivation is to be greatly expanded in 2024 and 2025.

SECURING THE LIVELIHOOD OF 60 SMALL-SCALE FARMERS “We rely on long-term partnerships, such as with our lime producer in Colombia.

Through our collaboration, the livelihoods of over 60 small-scale lime farmers can be secured. The aspect of social sustainability in this project must not be ignored; sustainability should always be viewed in three dimensions: Economy, ecology and social issues.”

The number of farmers in the cooperative has increased thanks to the many

years of cooperation. “This year, however, small calibers were challenging due to the drought. We are working with the trade to try and market as many limes as possible and bundle different sizes in nets, for example. As already mentioned, the producer has started to grow passion fruit, which we are very pleased about,” says Yazici.

COMMITMENT TO DEMETER PRODUCTS “In addition to organic fruit and vegetables, we are convinced of biodynamic farming methods and have therefore been trading Demeter produce for many years. Due to the change in consumption towards entry-level organic prices, we recorded a sharp decline in purchases of premium organic products in 2023. We are continuing to focus on Demeter and will work to boost sales again in 2024,” he continues. “We saw an extremely strong demand for yellow lemons. This was due to stagnating volumes from South Africa. We were able to supply our customers with yellow fruit from Spain and Peru as well as green fruit from the Dominican Republic. In principle, we are in favor of offering green summer lemons, which is

already being implemented in some food retailers. There is a need to educate the consumer about this.”

GLOBAL COMMITMENT TO ORGANIC PRODUCTION There is a worldwide commitment to expanding organic production and further development in terms of sustainability. “The basis for this is healthy, humusrich and fertile soil. For this reason, we are not only specialists for organic, but also for Naturland, Demeter and permaculture - we go further. We maintain longterm supplier relationships and prefer to buy directly from producers or producer groups. We visit our suppliers ourselves on site and carry out our own audits. We also carry out our own organic risk analysis and residue monitoring and analyses are only carried out in an accredited laboratory.”

At the same time, the organic sector is suffering from the effects of multiple crises on the availability of goods and a decline in the premium organic sector.

“The increased procurement costs are having an impact on prices. In some cases, organic goods are being replaced by con-

ventional goods, while the German government‘s goal is to increase the proportion of organic products on the shelves to 30 percent. There is a considerable need for action here across the value chain. At Fruit Logistica, we want to enter into discussions with both our customers and producers and present proposed solutions.”

Another topic that should be given more attention is marketing standards. “In view of the current marketing standards, the trade must enter into an active exchange with officials, in order to relax the standards so that fruit and vegetables that are smaller than usual or deformed can also be marketed within the EU. According to our suppliers, this would not only be a relief for them in terms of the effects of climate change, but also a way to reduce food waste,” states Yazici. He also advocates the simplification or standardization of sustainability requirements and certificates for easier implementation on the part of producers.  presse@lehmann-natur.com

Our growers supply a complete range of top quality fruit and vegetables Our affiliated expert growers, more than 220 in total, offer a complete range of top quality produce, from vegetables grown in greenhouses and the open field, to hard and soft fruit. Oxin Growers ensures that administration, invoicing, payment security, quality standards and certification are perfectly arranged.

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And because we understand that creating and maintaining visibility is essential to producers and retailers of fresh produce, our growers process and package fruit and vegetables exactly the way retailers want them. In their own packaging, in the right retail grades or quantities, completely retail ready! This reduces the time between harvesting and arrival at the point of sale, guaranteeing optimal freshness.

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Advertorial

A look inside the new Growbag ADVANCED The German growing media manufacturer Klasmann-Deilmann has successfully introduced the ‘Growbag ADVANCED’ concept to the fresh produce sector in 2023. Based on its 100 years of experience in substrates, the company aims to set new sustainability standards for berry production in the global soft fruit industry. During Fruit Logistica Klasmann-Deilmann will present its innovative growing solutions in hall 27, stand F-51.

Growbag ADVANCED in strawberry cultivation

In the past ten years, blueberry and raspberry substrates based on the GreenFibre® wood fibre technology developed by Klasmann-Deilmann have distinguished themselves as the go to plantation substrate. Here, especially the premium TS 4 substrates have proven the high suitability of GreenFibre in fruit production. Our new Growbag ADVANCED is now the most logical step towards the use of this modern and very sustainable constituent in grow bags.

GreenFibre - a new substrate for soft fruit The innovative and environment responsible approach of the Growbag ADVANCED allows to improve crop control while aligning soft fruit production with the environmental targets as discussed in the Paris accord.

As a new generation of grow bags, it is based on the specifically manufactured GreenFibre wood fibre from sustainable forestry and therefore only uses circular materials. Klasmann-Deilmann’s GreenFibre was researched and developed as a highly sustainable, nutritionally balanced, woodderived horticultural substrate. KlasmannDeilmann was one of the first companies to research a wood fibre technology specifically for the horticultural sector. Today, GreenFibre is an essential constituent in modern, sustainable growing media with optimised carbon footprint.

Physical properties of GreenFibre For manufacturing, only virgin softwood from responsible forestry is used, processed in a defibration treatment in specially developed machinery. Under high pressure and at temperatures of up to 100°C the ideal fibre structure for horticulture is created. The temperature acts as pasteurisation and is hence a desirable trait to ensure that GreenFibre is free from any plant pathogens or other biological contaminants.

The new Growbag ADVANCED packaging

The machinery can produce the fibre structure in different grades to fit any application.

Giz Gaskin, the new crop manager for soft fruit at Klasmann-Deilmann, highlights the physical properties: “It behaves like coir as a free draining substrate. But in contrast to coir, the fibre blend in the Growbag ADVANCED improves the structural stability throughout the cultivation to give the substrate an open structure for the full product life. This makes our GreenFibre a modern constituent that growers can rely on.”

Chemical properties of GreenFibre During the defibration process, the nutrient balance of the wood fibre gets stabilised to be suitable for plant cultivation. Giz explains: “The GreenFibre has a balanced nitrogen pattern, which was made possible

by Klasmann-Deilmann’s technical team in Germany and our European factories.

We knew that wood fibre products were not sufficiently balanced in the past.”

He continues: “Fresh wood is naturally degraded by microbial activity and this process requires nitrogen. If the nitrogen requirement is not met in the substrate, microbes remove the nitrogen from the root zone reducing the nitrogen available for plant growth. At Klasmann-Deilmann, we treat the substrate to sufficiently balance the nitrogen requirement. This prevents competition for nitrogen in the root zone.”

Growbag ADVANCED – the sustainable growing solution In addition to Klasmann-Deilmann’s premium coir grow bags, the new Growbag ADVANCED is available also as a 100 % peat and coir free product. Soft fruit specialist Giz Gaskin comments: “Though for most soft fruit crops, the formulations available today allow a step-by-step approach away from pure peat, coir or peat-coir blends.

These substrates allow the grower to try new sustainable grow bags with a lower carbon footprint, while remaining closer

to the original formulation.” With regard to CO2 emissions, he adds: “Looking to the future, Klasmann-Deilmann has designed the production of its Growbag ADVANCED to reduce the CO2 footprint of grow bags up to 52% compared to conventional coir bags. The development aims to offer soon a CO2-neutral Growbag ADVANCED. Ideal for solving the emissions problem our industry is facing.

Close up of the specific fibre structure of GreenFibre®

The Growbag ADVANCED is specially designed for the protected cultivation of soft fruit. The bag is available in a range of formats with different planting and dripper hole options to suit most strawberry growers. The new Growbag product line from Klasmann-Deilmann not only contains a premium substrate quality, but also all the experience and expertise from the company’s 110-year history.

You are cordially welcome to test the Growbag ADVANCED and to visit the Klasmann-Deilmann stand at Fruit Logistica in Berlin.

We look forward to working with you.

Hall 27 Stand F-51

www.klasmann-deilmann.com

BAG TO THE ROOTS THE MOST SUSTAINABLE GROWBAG OF ITS KIND

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More substrates and innovative growing solutions: www.klasmann-deilmann.com

Scan for more details.

The Netherlands

Greenhouse berry market and production: gaps to bridge, opportunities to seize Greenhouse berry cultivation has made quite the leaps recently, with many advancements, especially in LED lighting and breeding.

However, production isn’t yet able to meet the demand. The market is still very much dependent on seasonality, and off-season berries are tough for consumers to score. Despite the many challenges affecting this horti segment, growers, breeders, and greenhouse suppliers are getting into this space to seize the many opportunities, bridge gaps, and turn a substantial profit. To do that, however, everything needs to be in unison: good varieties, the right greenhouse tech, and toptier growers. This is kind of a vicious cycle of demand that cannot be met because there’s not enough supply, thus preventing the market from developing accordingly. This can make it risky to invest in new technologies and varieties. Yet, opportunities abound. van Genderen is the general manager hectares of glasshouse production, and Janof Royal Berry, a Dutch greenhouse beranother 20 hectares of outdoor tabletop ry grower. The company, which celebrated its 12.5-year anniversary last year, expanded rapidly recently, reaching 35

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

production. Jan believes three were the main factors driving horti growers into the berry space. “Development in ber-

ry varieties, better lighting thanks to improved LED tech, and new glass with higher transparency for greenhouses,” he says. “The climate is changing, the market is changing, and we too need to rely on varieties that can handle all of that. But on top of that, we also need more technology that can better handle the changing climate to guarantee a steady production of food. For instance, last year, there was a lot of decrease in glasshouse production due to the extreme hot weather, on top of plant quality issues. There has been too big of a mismatch between periods with no berries, or period with too many of them.” Seasonality, or rather off-seasonality, is indeed a great opportunity for berry growers.

A MATTER OF(F) SEASON Sandro van Kouteren is the director of Parus, a company specializing in indoor farming systems, especially when it

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comes to strawberries. He too believes seasonality is a great challenge for growers, but it also represents a huge opportunity. “The market is adapting to off season produce, but it still very much is seasonal at the moment,” he says. “There’s always demand for strawberries, but that can never be met with the actual production.

So, you get periods in which everyone is flooding the market with strawberries, driving the price down, thus affecting a grower’s bottom line. The flip side of the coin here is that during off-season periods, demand stays there mostly unmet.”

Sandro here is not only talking about the demand coming from consumers, but also the demand for young plants from growers “Also young plant suppliers grow seasonally,” he says. “At the end of the season, they prepare the plants, put them in a freezer, leave them there until they get installed. This means that in the summertime, no supplier has young plants as growers have taken them all already.

If you had an indoor farm that grows year-round, and you need new plants in August, there’d be no supplier for you.”

IT‘S A COMBINATION If growers will have to meet the off-season demand, their cultivation strategy needs to accommodate that. This also means that there are opportunities for greenhouse and indoor suppliers to further support berry farmers. “This is especially true for climate suppliers,” says Sandro. “As the market changes to yearround, growers will need to keep greenhouses warm in the wintertime, something they hardly did in the past. That’s why you can see new smart solutions that

can support such an off-season model coming up almost on a daily basis.”

Jan indeed agrees with Sandro with regards to the necessity to grow yearround to seize the opportunities out there and to meet the demand that seems to be always there. However, not every berry is advancing at the same pace. “Generally speaking, breeding a new berry variety takes much longer than breeding, say, a new tomato variety,” Jan points out. After all, the technology in vegetables is way more developed than what we see in the berry space. “Long story short, cycles in vegetables are much faster than in berries. Hence things may seem to go a little slow in this space.” Despite that, Jan too believes that there are plenty of opportunities for berry growers out there, with the market still growing. “When we know how many berries we have and when, we can work on a good market position, and plan in advance for when peak production is coming. This would allow us to plan promotions and the like with supermarkets, as they love to sell quality berries. All we need is to guarantee enough volumes so that berries can be sold anytime, in the way you want. There’s a necessity for the sector to have a better production line, to know what we can expect. Consumers have shown a willingness to pay the money for quality berries, but we have to work on good planning, but also on taste, quality, and aesthetics.”

Better cultivation technology is indeed necessary to guarantee a better and improved production of off-season berries. Sandro from Parus has worked on this since his company’s inception, and he

introduced the concept of layered cultivation for berries in greenhouses. “Indoor farming and greenhouses are looking at this for quick money or big changes.

This is because strawberries are a luxury product. It’s not a necessary food. At the same time, because of the constant shortage, there’s just never enough in strawberry land. The reality is that strawberry is a very difficult plant to balance and keep healthy.” In 2016, Parus installed a multi-layered greenhouse in Russia to grow strawberries, and the project was a success for the grower. “They got a profitable greenhouse where they can grow year-round. Now, with advancements in LED and other climate tech, we have brought that same concept indoors where there’s no sunlight. We have developed a farming system which is a combination of DFT and NFT, with LEDs.” In conclusion, it’s quite clear that consumers are constantly demanding more and more quality berries. However, the market hasn’t yet developed to accommodate a year-round berry supply. Investing in new cultivation technologies and new varieties may not pay off as it could, as the market may not be ready for that.

However, this is just a matter of time.

Growers and greenhouse suppliers are working to address each other’s challenges, while simultaneously developing the market that suits them the best to provide consumers with a year-round supply of quality berries. 

AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

57

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Scandinavia

Low electricity prices and residual heat open path to Scandinavia’s local production The Nordic countries, with their minimal sunlight, long winters, low temperatures, and limited local agricultural production, face unique challenges in achieving self-sufficiency in food production. Sweden imports approximately 70% of its fruits and vegetables (AGF), Norway imports 50%, and Finland is also a significant consumer of imported products. Despite these hurdles, innovative technologies from the horticulture and vertical farming sectors are offering solutions to enable local cultivation. However, challenges such as high energy prices, labor shortages, and low selling prices remain on the horizon.

I

n recent years, the Finnish greenhouse industry has faced increasing challenges. Although Finnish consumers are opular among the population, and Finland reaching self-supply rates of up to 60% in tomatoes and even 80% in cucumbers only half a decade ago, the industry is currently decreasing. Despite experiencing growth in acreage until 2020, there has been a gradual decline since then,

coupled with a reduction in the number of horticultural farms. Although several larger growers continue to upscale, others have to close down their facilities.

A major contributor to this decline is the impact of high energy prices, exacerbated by the long delay in the construction of the new Olkiluoto nuclear power plant.

Although commissioned recently, technical problems have caused interruptions

in energy production, making it challenging for the horticultural sector to plan for adequate energy availability.

SWEDISH SOLUTION TO HIGH ENERGY COSTS Sweden is actively addressing the issue of high energy costs by tapping into waste heat from industrial processes. WA3RM, a development company, is spearheading a project to build a 10-hectare greenhouse that utilizes waste heat from a nearby paper processor. “The best thing to do when you have almost free heat is to grow things,” says co-founder and deputy CEO Fredrik Indebetou, who says the project will not only be expanded with another 10 hectare, but four more will follow, as financing the projects is already completed. “In Sweden we have access to water, land, electricity, and clean water, which are all enabling factors to start a greenhouse operation, but the almost free heat is the key component.”

AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

59

Scandinavia

More initiatives focus on increasing local production. Matz Engman, Inward Investment Manager at business development agency Invest in Norrbotten, highlights the import value of tomatoes alone, reaching 144 million euros in 2022. Engman believes that the region can attract growers from across Europe, promoting self-sufficiency in vegetable production.

Access to 100% renewable energy at one of Europe‘s lowest energy prices and surplus heat from the green industrial tran-

Specialist in apples, pears and strawberries

sition position Sweden as an attractive destination for greenhouse growers.

While the potential for local production seems present, locally grown vegetables in Scandinavia face challenges in price competitiveness compared to imports from Southern Europe and Northern Africa. Fredrik Indebetou advocates collaboration to address macroeconomic, labor, and climate-related challenges.

While talking to retailers about the chal-

lenges in these production areas, such as labor circumstances and sustainability, Swedish growers also follow a different path to address the market, even collaborating with their neighbors from Finland.

Last year Odlarlaget, has been approved as a cross-border producer organization, uniting Swedish and Finnish growers. According to Magnus Nilsson, CEO of Odlarlaget, the Swedish Growers‘ Association, consumption last year has been stable, while imports increased. “It

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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means profitability for growers is suffering due to lower sales volumes.”

LABOR SHORTAGES AND VERTICAL FARMING Labor shortages, a global concern for growers, are particularly pronounced in Scandinavia. This challenge has prompted interest in vertical farming, which offers a potential solution to reduce dependence on traditional labor-intensive methods. Vertical farms, with controlled environments and efficient resource use, present an opportunity for locally produced crops. A lot of knowledge on this type of cultivation is from Scandinavia, after all.

Despite recent hurdles in the vertical farming market, as again the high energy prices, and the insecurity surrounding vertical farming initiatives, caused by bankruptcies in the US, and, more nearby, companies as InFarm. Once, this was Europe‘s largest vertical farming company focusing on growing herbs and leafy greens in retail stores, but due to the high energy and cultivation costs the company greatly downsized and was declared bankrupt in several countries.

Yet, in Scandinavia, several local initiatives focus on vertical farming, and retail supports them. In Norway, the relatively cheap electricity prices, thanks to their abundand hydroelectric resources and government policies, ensure vertical farming can be viable in terms of costs.

Last year, Avisomo, a Norwegian agtech supplier, and Coop Norway, a global retailer, formed a strategic partnership to build an automated vertical farm that will be directly integrated into the retailer‘s existing distribution center. “Our approach is based on growing produce directly in standard-sized trolleys that are well-estab-

lished in the food industry and moving the plants around the facility utilizing automation robots. This “plant-to-personnel” approach both reduces staffing needs and enables us to integrate well-tested automation machinery into the farm, reducing both upfront capital needs and operational costs,” said Martin Molenaar, CEO of Avisomo. Other initiatives include the Gront fra Laks farm, with one facility opened in July 2021 and a second one opened in December 2023, a facility that includes a 15-layered vertical farm, consisting of 22 growing racks, that can produce over 3.6 million heads of lettuce per year.

Given the numerous options to expand, Marius Johansen, Founder, and CEO of Gront Fra Laks, sees Northern Norway as the main priority for the time being, given the cheap electricity and ‚free‘ water.

Electricity for EUR0.03/KwH. “You can‘t find these prices any lower than here.”

It might be clear the Nordic countries are navigating challenges unique to their geographical and climatic conditions in achieving self-sufficiency in food production. While innovative technologies in horticulture and vertical farming offer promising solutions, issues such as high energy prices, labor shortages, and pricing competitiveness with imports persist. Collaborative efforts between neighboring countries, such as the cross-border producer organization between Sweden and Finland, showcase a commitment to overcoming shared challenges. The pursuit of sustainable practices, as seen in Sweden‘s utilization of waste heat and the development of automated vertical farms, reflects a proactive approach to address environmental concerns. Despite hurdles, the region continues to explore and implement strategies that may lead to greater food production autonomy in the future.  AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

61

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

Global

BRICS’ expansion challenges the world order.

Will trade flows shift, too?

At a summit in Johannesburg in late August, China, Russia, India, Brazil, and South Africa decided to add six countries to their five-member BRICS club. The group wants to strengthen mutual (economic) ties and, as such, counterbalance established Western alliances. Are changes in global trade flows, including fruits and vegetables, thus imminent?

A

rgentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the chosen countries that will join BRICS as of January 1, 2024. Reportedly, 40+ countries showed interest in joining BRICS, an acronym of the first letter of the current member countries‘ names. That shows the popularity of the bloc among emerging economies in several continents. Those countries seem to want to rely less and less on traditional powers to raise their standard of living.

LOANS, INVESTMENTS, AND MORE TRADE The Washington-based World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) provide financial support and loans to countries in need. Following those examples, BRICS created The New Development Bank (NDB) in 2014 as its counterpart.

Cooperation within BRICS should result in intensified trade between those countries, too. They are considered to have enormous economic growth poten-

tial and the affiliated countries hope for investment from within its ranks. These three mechanisms can diversify and modernize countries with often one-sided and simple economies.

SIZEABLE BRICS VS. G7 The new BRICS formation represents over 40% of the global population (about 3.7 billion people), almost 40% of the global economy, and 43% of oil production, the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant calculated using IMF, UN, and the Energy Institute data. Those figures far exceed the G7‘s credentials. This forum of seven leading industrial nations, founded in 1975, has an economic agenda for which BRICS, formed in 2009, aims to be an alternative.

The G7 comprising the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

63

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in 1.000 dollar

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Brics to EU Vegetables Brics

971.121

807.099

823.608

753.293

673.169

793.702

739.748

725.957

686.816

739.210

841.683

876.641

China

800.697

616.603

625.559

560.460

489.708

579.216

548.925

447.072

483.612

461.127

502.747

534.225

India

89.202

79.865

113.670

123.358

98.663

120.546

115.436

131.608

65.636

117.979

168.379

177.859

Russia

66.978

99.680

73.684

57.920

72.063

76.946

56.363

125.050

111.421

129.201

127.477

123.612

South-Africa

8.526

6.900

6.634

6.804

7.933

13.152

12.742

15.832

17.125

19.699

30.802

28.084

Brazil

5.718

4.051

4.061

4.751

4.802

3.842

6.282

6.395

9.022

11.204

12.278

12.861

Fruit Brics

1.817.042

1.806.513

2.032.394

1.961.989

1.944.673

1.995.993

2.263.062

2.342.915

2.254.161

2.443.030

2.742.240

2.619.262

South-Africa

741.278

729.026

850.379

856.917

858.012

902.168

992.590

1.146.761

993.558

1.228.629

1.467.911

1.429.125

Brazil

447.522

456.528

479.995

448.654

436.518

437.746

505.417

499.987

523.590

508.546

574.051

520.767

India

291.454

270.584

345.990

341.307

279.378

314.874

418.081

387.572

326.636

352.466

352.513

307.738

China

293.314

316.218

331.121

288.881

342.988

325.241

328.189

290.321

387.820

301.515

295.224

286.223

Russia

43.474

34.157

24.909

26.230

27.777

15.964

18.785

18.274

22.557

51.874

52.541

75.409

EU to Brics Vegetables Brics

1.079.432

981.038

1.087.673

763.015

276.297

360.011

308.543

161.298

181.693

152.357

134.451

131.538

Brazil

25.546

43.202

49.238

54.897

103.000

97.584

66.816

50.635

80.516

50.396

31.749

43.230

Russia

1.012.015

867.457

1.009.563

678.802

73.933

58.526

68.451

59.401

53.026

53.472

42.728

40.392

China

3.294

2.976

3.834

4.357

5.638

7.444

12.413

4.401

10.158

18.513

29.586

21.640

South-Africa

10.655

18.087

14.498

22.527

16.242

19.248

21.284

21.142

24.855

22.431

20.807

18.057

India

27.922

49.316

10.540

2.432

77.484

177.209

139.579

25.719

13.138

7.545

9.581

8.219

Fruit Brics

1.773.375

1.925.650

1.934.709

1.410.422

370.894

423.781

457.061

449.199

593.015

433.983

448.369

618.928

Russia

1.529.642

1.681.327

1.667.031

1.081.428

108.655

71.928

94.138

114.422

165.729

144.201

170.203

257.922

Brazil

145.284

137.729

138.893

183.571

130.271

184.619

172.917

157.470

161.216

118.329

101.234

158.195

India

9.713

9.920

7.546

17.907

28.082

40.958

50.903

25.454

90.647

44.699

74.142

94.956

China

72.407

77.090

102.921

106.712

83.792

103.155

112.057

125.399

148.050

102.241

76.165

89.132

South-Africa

16.329

19.584

18.318

20.804

20.094

23.121

27.046

26.454

27.373

24.513

26.625

18.723

France, and Italy, represents less than ten percent (767 million people) of the global populace. Still, it accounts for 31% of the world‘s economy. However, as particularly China and India, each with more than 1.4 billion inhabitants, develop, by the end of this decade, the BRICS countries will be generating half of the global GDP. DOLLAR UNDER ATTACK In that scenario, the dollar‘s importance as a global currency increasingly comes into question. Nonetheless, using a new or existing currency (read: the Chinese yuan) to undermine the dollar’s dominance will be no mean feat. More than 40% of international trade, including the fruit and vegetable sector, is, after all, done in greenbacks.

There is such confidence in The United States’ economic strength and the unshakability of its currency that the dollar has little competition from other currencies. It remains the least risky currency. However, says Brazilian President Lula da Silva, many countries struggle tremendously to acquire dollars.

OWN CURRENCY Increased trade in yuan, rupees, rubles, or other local currencies may provide a solution. Another is a single, joint currency. Many economists, however, highly doubt something like that is actually feasible. A much-needed requirement for such a mutual currency is a group of not too widely divergent economies.

Argentina‘s new president, Javier Milei, elected on November 19, has already indicated that he intends only to dollar-

ize that country‘s economy. His election has brought Argentina signing up to join BRICS into question, too.

ALTERNATIVE FOR SWIFT Developing a payment order system to replace Swift - used by more than 11,000 financial institutes in 200+ countries - is undoubtedly being discussed at BRICS meetings. Future member, Iran, must be well-pleased with that. Western sanctions have completely cut that country off from global payments. Taking concrete steps toward a joint alternative payment order system will be high on the order of business at the next BRICS summit.

IRANIAN AND EGYPTIAN EXPORTERS ARE PLEASED In late August, just after Iran‘s admittance to the BRICS club was announced,

AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

65

Global

in 1.000 dollar

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Brics among themselves (imports from other Brics countries) Vegetables Brics

742.186

820.719

807.620

661.578

761.770

875.204

794.936

626.360

745.781

663.856

689.081

635.155

Russia

337.331

238.562

260.484

358.051

369.143

387.037

431.788

365.969

400.228

321.111

343.251

330.042

China

1.727

3.035

3.632

1.811

2.726

5.359

7.005

7.802

22.443

18.635

81.098

125.153

Brazil

231.741

271.082

378.174

155.898

194.439

309.490

169.781

97.909

127.815

173.605

99.811

89.790

India

88.841

217.946

124.288

97.276

159.446

126.393

152.200

135.236

176.307

117.048

136.671

71.076

South-Africa

82.546

90.094

41.042

48.542

36.016

46.925

34.162

19.444

18.988

33.457

28.250

19.094

Fruit Brics

545.041

611.966

699.381

696.629

667.797

832.445

889.914

967.525

850.768

700.080

769.315

1.159.147

China

18.140

51.758

54.758

62.946

84.343

82.051

123.258

244.550

264.388

270.633

296.901

604.175

Russia

423.345

445.618

511.320

502.070

495.876

548.516

595.807

672.753

531.178

366.998

382.641

456.502

India

90.700

100.707

120.146

112.619

73.947

186.657

158.786

38.596

44.965

51.154

78.365

86.174

Brazil

3.868

7.995

7.259

12.637

6.490

9.931

6.784

6.943

6.317

7.992

6.947

6.578

South-Africa

8.988

5.888

5.898

6.357

7.141

5.290

5.279

4.683

3.920

3.303

4.461

5.718

Brics among themselves (exports from other Brics countries) Vegetables Brics

742.186

820.719

807.620

661.578

761.770

875.204

794.936

626.360

745.781

663.856

689.081

635.155

China

666.888

656.240

732.144

589.619

633.900

770.283

664.374

504.192

559.312

518.443

442.657

397.311

India

35.201

24.803

27.853

36.972

33.448

35.248

37.401

39.831

61.533

64.707

130.957

170.327

Brazil

6.929

18.526

6.496

19.379

42.192

15.572

35.020

39.467

54.517

44.071

105.559

55.122

South-Africa

53

106

1.313

479

285

188

2.301

1.420

4.683

8.011

8.463

9.496

Russia

33.115

121.044

39.814

15.129

51.945

53.913

55.840

41.450

65.736

28.624

1.445

2.899

Fruit Brics

545.041

611.966

699.381

696.629

667.797

832.445

889.914

967.525

850.768

700.080

769.315

1.159.147

South-Africa

167.028

159.770

201.870

192.108

216.642

183.299

294.767

431.022

415.828

493.711

548.494

708.480

China

345.962

386.940

434.614

435.746

406.279

581.892

521.482

440.701

345.497

115.031

114.382

219.418

Russia

2.667

29.269

8.791

14.972

10.290

8.612

9.128

11.270

6.433

6.722

5.617

179.620

India

23.756

28.832

50.190

48.877

27.497

52.814

56.927

63.143

56.744

50.410

50.484

37.457

Brazil

5.628

7.155

3.916

4.926

7.089

5.828

7.610

21.389

26.266

34.206

50.338

14.172

Source: Trade Map

a fruit exporter from that country told FreshPlaza: “The lack of a banking network under sanctions is Iranian exports‘ biggest hindrance. We‘re adapting, but there‘s always the risk that players with bad intentions or fake customers will take advantage of the situation. Iran already accepts payments in Russian rubles and Chinese yuan for some of its agricultural exports. However, the non-dollar currency system must definitely be strengthened. We‘re, thus, delighted with the news of this forthcoming membership.”

Egypt, too, welcomes the announcement of its inclusion into BRICS. The country is buckling under an economic and monetary crisis, including the drying up of foreign exchange reserves and the Egyptian

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

pound‘s devaluation against the U.S. dollar. Being able to trade in other currencies is, thus, essential.

In mid-October, Egyptian economic analyst Khaled Al-Sayed explained to FreshPlaza how pleased that country‘s fruit and vegetable exporters are: “Egypt will probably be able to shift part of its trade flows to BRICS countries. It will trade goods internationally using national currencies instead of U.S. dollars. Last year, Egypt could, for example, export $600 million worth of fruits and vegetables to Russia. Once it‘s a BRICS member, that should increase rapidly. And what can be done with Russia will be repeated with other BRICS countries. I assume future citrus exports to Russia will be paid in

rubles, which Egypt can then use to buy grain from that country.”

FUTURE TRADE FLOWS The most direct impact of closer cooperation between BRICS members is, indeed, expected via expanding their mutual trade flows. Iran and Egypt hope other members will throw their fruit and vegetable markets wide open to products like top fruit, citrus, and sweet potatoes.

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, net fruit and vegetable importers, should, of course, not be discussed in the export section. They can still contribute, though, by buying fruit and vegetables from Egypt, South Africa, Brazil, China, and India.

2023

members

BRICS, formed in 2010, welcomes 6 new members in 2024.

new members membership requested

BRICS-EXPANSION

Russia

Saudi Arabia

China

Egypt

India Iran UAE

Brazil Argentina

Ethiopia

Argentina is an important lithium producer, a metal crucial to the clean energy producer Russia

South Africa

China has given Ethiopia billions in funding to build massive infrastructure projects

GLOBAL SHARE GDP 2023 3,6%

BRICS total number of new members

29%

18,4%

POPULATION 2023 OIL PRODUCTION 2022 11,9%

46%

17,7%

17,8%

2,9%

Saudi Arabia is the only billion-dollar economy that has been added

4,1% 4,3% 43%

By bringing in countries with strongly growing populations, such as Ethiopia, BRICS members could soon represent more than half the global population

Bringing Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the UAE into the fold means BRICS has more than doubled its global oil production share

GOODS EXPORTS* 2022 14,4%

25%

BRICS’ global export share will rise slightly, still fed by China

* Commodities only Sources: IMF, World Population Review, EI Statistical Review of World Energy, World Trade Organization

AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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Global

FRUIT AND VEGETABLE TRADE WITHIN THE CURRENT BRICS However, what form fruit and vegetable trade between the BRICS countries and third countries will take is still anyone‘s guess. Perhaps we must consider the past.

Looking at import and export figures, the Trade Map shows that, in the past 12 years, fruit and vegetable trade among current BRICS members has not grown spectacularly as a whole. That is besides South Africa, which has managed great figures. That could inspire Egypt. BRICS fruit and vegetable exports to the EU have not declined either; on the contrary, there has been a significant increase, especially from South Africa and Brazil.

In 2011, the BRICS countries traded vegetables worth $742 million. Last year, that was down by more than $100 million. In fruit, however, export values of inter-member trade doubled, from $545 million in 2011 to $1.159 billion in 2022.

That increase is almost entirely due to South Africa‘s fantastic performance, which leaped from $167 million to $708 million. Of all the BRICS countries, the Chinese market‘s demand has grown the most, from which, as mentioned, particularly South Africa benefits.

BRICS/EU TRADE FLOWS South Africa’s increasing fruit exports to other BRICS countries, however, did not hinder sales from that country to the EU from doubling between 2011 and 2022.

South Africa also sold twice as much fruit to the EU as to the other BRICS members ($1.43 billion in value versus $708 million in 2022). Similarly, during that same period, Brazil exported, on average, 30+ times more fruit to the EU than to its BRICS counterparts ($520 million versus $14 million in 2022). India and China maintained similar levels in their fruit exports to the EU in those years.

Many countries have debt in dollars and as it strengthens, so do debts.

Will there be a new currency union for the Brics countries?

Fruit and vegetable exports from the EU to BRICS countries are of an altogether different magnitude, especially since Russia‘s embargo on European fruits and vegetables in 2014. Only India is far more active in the import market for European apples. However, in absolute values, the export figures to BRICS do not compare to how much fruit and vegetables the EU imports.

Looking at past figures, it is not immediately clear if the EU will do less business with BRICS members regarding fruit and vegetable imports or exports, even after that organization expands. Trade still seems to, ultimately, happen where the best export opportunities lie.

CCG AND NAFTA BRICS exports less fruit to other groups of countries than the EU. It shipped fruit worth $1.1 billion to the CCG (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman) in 2022. That is less than half as

much as the $2.6 billion to the EU, though, with about 450 million inhabitants, the EU‘s population is seven times that of the CCG‘s 65 million.

Particularly South Africa and, to a lesser degree, China and India have gradually increased their exports to the CCG over the past few years. Also, one cannot rule out that that will accelerate from January 1, 2024, when Saudi Arabia and the UAE join BRICS. Fruit and vegetable exporting countries like Egypt should also benefit in that sense from the group‘s expansion.

In 2022, the BRICS group exported a third of the EU volume to NAFTA, a US-Canada-Mexico free trade zone with a slightly larger joint population than the EU. Over the years, exports as a whole have remained pretty stable, with South Africa and China on the up and Brazil and especially India on the down. Russia has insignificant figures. 

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South-Africa

Donovan Lewis & Zander Ernst – Allesbeste (Avor)

Selling South African avocados, the modern way An unnecessarily complex chain, more so than from Peru and Chile, characterises South African fruit exports, believes Allesbeste, wellknown avocado producer from Tzaneen, Limpopo Province.

I

n the South African model, marketing is still predominantly handled at home, far from the market. It’s a throwback to the deregulation of the fruit industry, explains Zander Ernst, director at Allesbeste, but its shortcomings were thrown into relief by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

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Allesbeste is well-served by the intelligence and guidance they receive from their Poeldijk-based partner Avor. It allowed them, says Allesbeste’s Donovan Lewis, to put up their hand when quality problems were experienced during the 2022 campaign and tell the industry: “Use us.”

“It’s about being specialists within our marketing terrain,” Lewis points out. “It doesn’t help if the marketer is back in South Africa. In our view, that is an outdated model of marketing. We want to be able to make second-to-second decisions.

With all of the technology in our hands – does one really still need all of the intermediaries?” Ernst posits. “And it’s not a priori about cutting costs, but about adaptability to market conditions and efficiency.”

“We don’t want to take in too many growers,” Ernst explains.

“When a container is held up for two days in some port we want to be able to immeAllesbeste is a pioneer in avocado trellising in South Africa. diately find out why, give feedback to the farmOver the three years of Avor’s existence, er and make them part of the process to its volumes have tripled as the market come up with possible solutions.” recognises its expertise in landing sound avocados of every cultivar. Avor deals MASSIVE IMPORTANCE OF directly with clients in Europe, chief GERMANY’S AVO CONSUMPTION among them Rewe and Lidl. Retailers like Ernst remarks that 2023 was again a Avor’s direct links to avocado suppliers. good avocado campaign. Thereafter, the early summer months in Tzaneen had Not that Allesbeste and Avor aim to equal been the warmest and driest for the perithe well-known avocado behemoths od on record and it’s expected to have an in size. They’re comfortable with their impact on the 2024 crop which they’ll “drop in the bucket” ranking within the start harvesting right after Berlin Fruit South African avocado industry.

Logistica.

“Germany was until recently the largest user of avocados in Europe. They really use a lot of avocados and for that reason, Germany figures massively in our avocado exports,” he says. The bulk of European clients require counts 16 and smaller, but throughout the season it varies. Scandinavian buyers tend towards smaller counts, while Spain wants it bigger.

“We’ve been told if we could have only counts 18s and 20s in our crop we’d make really good money,” he quips. Counts 22 and 24 are difficult – too large for bags, too small for ripe-and-ready programmes – while counts 10 and 12 are simply unwieldy and sold locally.

FACILITY-SHARING: THE MODERN WAY Through its parent company The Farmhouse Group, Avor shares the use of facilities at Best Fresh’s collective consolidation point where ripening and packing are done on a pay-as-you-go basis. There

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The avocados in cartons are at Avor’s Poeldijk facility.

is something as having too many packhouses and too many consolidation points, Allesbeste believes, and this space-sharing shaves off costs.

“A collective packhouse reduces the costs back on the farm, and it optimizes the cost chain. The market price is the market price,” Lewis observes. “Maybe a euro up here or down there, so the only place where you can earn more for the farmer is within the cost chain.”

FUTUREPROOFING THROUGH MULTICULTIVAR FOCUS Many intermediaries in Europe actually only want Hass, Donovan notes, but Allesbeste and Avor see little merit in limiting themselves to a single cultivar.

Not only do they own and propagate their

own early cultivar, the Maluma, which is finding favour in high heat localities, but they pride themselves on their quality expertise and it’s giving them an advantage. Avor’s cooperation with Best Fresh also increases the visibility of the Maluma cultivar in the Northern Hemisphere.

“Our point of view is that we need to be able to handle any cultivar. If you walk away from cultivars like Pinkerton and Fuerte then in future, with new cultivars, you’re going to struggle.”

Lewis tells how, at the start of the previous season, he spent a lot of time with Peruvian exporters who were having quality issues on the Maluma arrivals, until a protocol emerged from their engagement and QC issues fell by 80%.

The quality on Maluma avocados was this year close to perfect, he remarks, and at every count, it generates almost R5 (0.23 euro) more per kilogram for a South African grower than any other type of avocado.

“Our longterm plan is to enlarge our footprint. A country like India definitely offers opportunities that we want to investigate. Difficult years like 2022 have shown us the vital importance of direct communication and the benefit of having a presence right there in the market.”  donovan@allesbeste.com

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Global

Adapt to climate change or die is reality that faces South American fresh produce industry Farming under the blue skies remains a risky enterprise that has become more volatile due to the ever changing and unpredictable climate. Not only is the El Niño weather phenomenon wreaking havoc across the South American production countries, but it comes with opposite effects for different countries. This ranges from warmer, drier and drought conditions in some countries to wild swings of intense rain and storms that lead to widespread flooding in other countries.

These mudslides and major flooding has sadly caused the death of many as well as the displacement of thousands of people in villages and town as well as in large cities during 2023 alone. It is especially fruit producers and workers who have been hit the hardest across Peru, Chile, Ecuador and many other countries where major export crops are grown, who face a combined over $1 billion in damages and lost sales.

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

P

roducers, exporters as well as the industry associations and various government departments are aware of the urgency with which they have to adapt and try to minimise the risks on the crucial production and exports. It does not end with production but can affect shipping as well, as can be seen by the Panama Canal delays due to low water levels caused by the drought, yet further impact of the changing climate.

PERU BLUEBERRY PRODUCTION AFFECTED As the world leaders in blueberry production Peru’s production is drastically down by over 50% at the time of writing.

The weather pattern changes are seem-

ingly subtle with producers initially just hoping the 2023/24 season was starting late, but the writing was on the wall already says Sebastian Ochoa, owner of Consultora Agrícola Santa María, a company that provides technical support in blueberry production, due diligence, and commercial consulting.

Ochoa has a unique experience and view of the global blueberry industry and shares a view insights. He is an advisor and consultant to blueberry producing and exporting companies in 16 countries (5 continents) with more than 14,000 hectares advised in conventional, organic and biodynamic production, both in hydroponics and soil. He is a global advisor for the production projects of the company and third party producers of the Australian genetic program Ozblu.

He says when El Niño started causing the warmer weather a lot of growers did not know how to read the plant and obtain higher production. “With my growers we have good production, while many growers had many problems with production.

In South Africa’s Western Cape, weeks of torrential rain caused caused two weeks of crop delays in Citrus Valley

Last summer El Niño started, when the sea surface started to be more warm, this produced an increase of temperatures 6-7 degree more for the min and max causing the plants to grow too fast leading to less production. Ventura is the most affected. This phenomenon will continue

for the next year too, while producers in Peru started to say it was a delay, it was not because the fruit is not there. Now the production is decreasing and they don’t have enough fruit. This caused big problems for growers. Peru sends a lot to markets with an increase in consumption

AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

75

Global

in the world. With this lack, the prices increased,” explains Ochoa. This means not only are producing counties affected, but consumers in markets end up paying higher prices for fresh produce due to the lower volumes and lack of availability.

Ochoa’s advice to producers is to switch to the latest blueberry varieties that are bred to thrive under different climates, but it still needs good agricultural management. He says they key to successful blueberry growing is not only to have the new genetics. “New genetics are first and second producers need to know how to get the potential out of the genetics. In my work I saw a lot of very good and new varieties. But it needs the management to get the potential out.”

CHILE CHERRY AND OTHER FRUIT PRODUCTION IMPACTED According to Iván Marambio, president of Frutas de Chile, the country has seen the effects of a changing climate with flooding in key cherry production areas as well as rain leading to a slower start to the 2023/24 cherry season. “Our sector has the capacity to adapt and that is the way in which we are preparing to face this new climatic reality. We have implemented various technologies such as sunshade netting, automation of harvesting and packing processes, among others.”

Camila Borquez Maldifassi, owner and founder of Fresh Produce Trading in Chile, who works with cherry producers says the effects of climate change on productivity can hit them hard. “With the cherries, everything is pre-sold. The Chinese come here and give advances, they pay step by step and with a minimum guarantee. Every irregularity in the climate means money that was already used in advances can be lost quickly through lower production.”

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

The most recent El Niño started in the month of June

ECUADOR BANANA INDUSTRY IMPACT Ecuador’s banana industry through the Association for Banana exporters (AEBE), as part of the Banana Cluster, has maintained a proactive role in helping producers to survive the climate change.

Jose Antonio Hidalgo, Executive Director of the AEBE says, “We are supporting producers with training, workshops and information delivery. Special meetings have also been held with the prefects of the three provinces with the largest cultivation area (Los Ríos, Guayas, El Oro), to outline and establish protocols for prevention and action at the time when the first signs appear. There is significant investment in the sector. AEBE is supporting producers in this regard with information and monitoring of climatic conditions through the 13 weather stations operated by AEBE‘s Banana Statistical Observatory.”

Ing. Richard Salazar, from Acorbanec Ecuador: “There is no doubt that the weather is changing. Once again, in 2023 it played a negative role for us, despite the fact that banana production increased on average by 8.5% more than in 2022; however, it could have been greater. Productivity per hectare was not the same as in

previous periods, for example, the ratios per cluster in 2023 were on average 1 when in previous periods they ranged from 1.4 to 1.6, due to the climate. At the level of winter or rainy season, we prepare by maintaining all drainage systems, reinforcing perimeter walls on the banks of rivers, but the authorities are also working on dredging rivers, and cleaning of flood control channels.”

It is clear from these experiences shared from across South America that industry associations, producers and government, as well as the entire value chain that relies on the fresh produce sector, have to not only mitigate against the impact of climate change, but plan well and support each other on an ongoing bases to survive the new reality. In turn retailers, wholesalers and consumers have to pay fairer prices that rewards producers for staying on the land and survive another season as they adapt to a changing climate.  sebastian@consultorasm.cl gmorales@asoex.cl communications@aebe.com.ec rsalazar@acorbanec.com Camilaborquez@freshproducetrading.com

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Germany

Artur Lammert from Dreesen Frische Kräuter & Co.:

“Volumes cultivated in Morocco will triple this year”

Herbs and cresses have become increasingly established over the past decade. The Dreesen family business, based in Bornheim, has proactively helped shape and develop this market segment from the very beginning. For three decades now, the company has been perfecting herb cultivation at home and abroad, with progressive cultivation methods and contemporary product concepts. At the end of 2023, we spoke to Artur Lammert, who has been at the helm of the company together with Robert Dreesen for over a year, talking about the past season and the future of herb production.

“C

hristmas business as we knew it no longer exists. However, we are noticing that a lot of herbs are needed in week 50 to 52, which is partly due to the fact that specialty herbs, such as mugwort, are in greater demand during this period.

We are sometimes talking about double the quantities being moved,” Lammert explains.

UPWARD TREND FOR MICROGREENS The Bornheim-based company can look back on a successful year overall, Lammert continues. “Our special microgreens - coriander, basil and flat-leaf parsley - which we were able to place with retailers for the first time in the first half of 2023, have established themselves well in the second half of the year.

The secret to our success lies in the freshness of the goods and the logistic reliabil-

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

ity we are able to guarantee every day, throughout Germany. We are also able to offer these items from German soil all year round. Initial analyses and talks with food retailers have shown that basil microgreens are particularly popular in spring and summer, often being consumed in combination with tomatoes.”

Although the Dreesen company has been producing cresses for 15 years now, growing microgreens specialties was quite challenging initially. Lammert: “It is not only a different and above all new product in terms of cultivation, but also in terms of marketing. This meant that we had to actively deal with the product design at the POS. We succeeded in this by investing heavily in marketing, i.e. appropriate displays and secondary placements. This is now reflected in a

nice demand for this relatively new product.”

INCREASED IMPORTANCE FOR MOROCCO In addition to cut herbs from Germany, the company also offers imported goods from several source countries outside of the domestic season. The majority of imports come from the company‘s own facilities near the southern Moroccan city of Agadir. “The transition this year was incomparable to last year, when we had a fairly mild winter and were therefore able to offer German herbs for a relatively long time. This year, there was a relatively untypical onset of winter in our region at the end of November, with sub-zero temperatures and snow. Fortunately, we were able to compensate for this with the first goods from Morocco.”

However, persistent heat and temperatures of up to 50 degrees in July and August made herb cultivation in the North African country considerably more difficult. Lammert: “We had to do a lot of homework, but we were able to react in good time so that the supply of goods was always guaranteed, even in this challenging year. We had to replant some sets and use shading systems; it was particularly critical for sensitive crops such as sage and rosemary. Although we are not

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heavy rainfall coming in unexpectedly. However, the fact that we have several production sites allows us to maintain a degree of flexibility. There are also challenges such as the toll increase and wage costs that we have to face. We are trying to counteract these additional costs by investing in automation - from cultivation to processing and packaging.

We have to follow this path in order to remain competitive.”

yet able to assess the exact situation, we expect minimal damage and crop losses.”

In recent years, Moroccan agriculture has developed very quickly. “There are good logistical conditions, with highways crisscrossing the country from the north to the south. At the same time, we have invested a lot in cultivation technology and the like, so that Morocco has now become a very important source country. Thanks to these investments, we can now guarantee a continuous supply of goods and consistent quality even out-

side the German season. It must also be said that the cultivation of herbs is perfectly suited to local conditions in Morocco, be it the soil, the cultivation methods, etc. Accordingly, we have again expanded the cultivation area compared to the previous year, so that the volumes cultivated will roughly triple.”

CLIMATE CHANGE AND AUTOMATION All in all, Dreesen can look back on a successful 2023. “What we are struggling with, however, is the sometimes capricious weather, with precipitation and

“We are seeing a healthy demand and market development for cut herbs across the board,” Lammert summarizes. “We are also noticing that the larger packaging units are becoming increasingly popular with consumers, which also indicates that overall demand is continuing to rise. Whereas until a few years ago we mainly offered 15–20-gram packs, the 30–40-gram units are now increasingly dominating the market. In this respect, we are seeing a great upward trend in our market segment.”  artur.lammert@dreesen.de

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Swiss

Andreas Allenspach from Rathgeb Bio on the development of the Swiss organic market:

“Organic share of the total retail basket is still high” With a strong economy and a lot of purchasing power, Switzerland has been one of the strongest organic markets in Europe for many years. After taking its first steps in organic open-field cultivation in 1994, northern Swiss family business Rathgeb Bio has since developed into Switzerland‘s largest organic producer. Apart from its headquarters in Unterstammheim (canton of Zurich), the group of companies also includes an independent logistics division and a state-of-the-art greenhouse facility. We spoke to Andreas Allenspach, who has been Chief Operating Officer at the company for around a year, about the challenging cultivation and marketing year 2023 and the further growth potential of the Swiss organic market.

A

lthough the harvest year can only really be assessed after the end of the storage season, 2023 will also be remembered as particularly challenging at Rathgeb Bio, Allenspach confirms. “In the fresh vegetable sector, it was the usual ups and downs, in line with the market and the weather. Thanks to a diverse range, on the one hand there are nice results

with products of very appealing quality and good yields, such as cauliflower, broccoli and lettuce in the fall. On the other hand, extreme weather and rain in spring, the subsequent heat in summer and finally wet conditions again at the end of the harvest have led to lower yields and product-specific interruptions.”

This in turn led to very different pictures for the respective products, Allenspach continues. “Yields and quality ranged from below average to quite nice, depending on the product. In the second half of the year, good yields and quality goods were encountered overall. Potato yields were below average due to late planting and the heat. Too much rain and insufficient levels of sunshine in April and May had a negative impact on yields across the board for all products. This resulted in fungal infestation, moisture-related yield losses and delays in planting, a situation that was exacerbated by the sharp rise in several operating costs. There was also a general trend towards higher external costs for auxiliary materials, fuel and energy.”

On the sales side, consumers in Switzerland are noticeably holding back as well. Allenspach: “We are seeing that entry-level price lines in particular are

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benefiting from this consumer restraint and are recording high growth rates. Organic products, on the other hand, which are generally somewhat more expensive, are currently struggling, although the organic share of the total basket of goods in the retail trade is still high, reaching up to 30 percent in some cases. Overall, we are satisfied with the 2023 marketing year. The planning with our customers was reliable and our products found their way to consumers. Of course, the challenges posed by the climatic conditions were also enormous from a marketing perspective. The excessive rainfall in spring led to some delays and gaps in supply. We were then confronted with a prolonged period of heat and a lack of rainfall.

Finally, in late fall, we experienced a prolonged cold spell, which in turn led to challenges, especially for open-field vegetables.”

Allenspach points to carrot sales: “Thanks to the good carrot harvest in the previous year 2022, stocks were accordingly strong. As a result, prices came under pressure in spring 2023. Thanks to strong retail promotions, however, all carrots could be marketed.

The turnover and sales trend for organic potatoes is also very pleasing still.”

The company‘s main customers are mainly retail chains as well as industrial and processing companies. “These strong partnerships have become established and are constantly being developed positively,” Allenspach emphasizes. “We have been able to grow continuously in recent years thanks to our strong partners. Like the entire organic sector, we have also benefited from the coronavirus years 2020/2021.

The organic business in Switzerland is developing stably, with continued good growth.”

In March 2023, Rathgeb Bio announced a far-reaching cooperation with the com-

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pany known as kellermann. ch.ag. The aim of the close collaboration is to “join forces to further strengthen and develop organic vegetable cultivation in Switzerland. Purnatur AG (which belongs to the Kellermann Group), a producer of conventional tomatoes, is also in a very solid position and is developing well. With kellermann.ch ag, we are now also active in the convenience sector. The convenience market is highly competitive, and the price pressures in this segment in particular are enormous.”

All in all, the Rathgeb Bio team is optimistic about the near future. “Despite these challenges, the prospects for the Swiss organic business are very positive. Due to inflation, we will probably not see the same high growth rates as in previous years, but in the long term we are convinced of the positive development of the organic sector. Sustainable production, the promotion of biodiversity, careful treatment of nature and healthy products without residues are still in vogue and are becoming increasingly popular with consumers. Then there are vegan and vegetarian consumer trends, from which we as organic vegetable producers will certainly benefit in the long term. We at Rathgeb Bio have also recognized the shift towards snack and aperitif vegetables. As a result, we will be launching a new product in this area in the course of 2024.”

According to Allenspach, there are further opportunities in cost savings with new technologies. “Support from digitalization will play a decisive role here. Meanwhile, we clearly see the weather extremes, which are already leading to losses and high additional costs and will continue to do so, as the biggest challenge of the current era.” 

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Italy

In 2023, Italy‘s kiwi crop is at an all-time low

Product in short supply, market in full swing In Italy, the current supply of kiwis is lower than that of the 2022 2023 season, but with a recovery in fruit size after the meager 2022 sizes and with good organoleptic characteristics. This is also the opinion of Enrico Bucchi, commercial director of Valfrutta Fresco, a brand of the Italian fruit and vegetable group.

“T

he kiwi season can be defined as anomalous,” begins Bucchi, “as the 2023 year looks like the one with the lowest availability of Italian green kiwis we can remember. For the most part, Valfrutta Fresco markets the fruit of the members of Agrintesa, which guarantees a very wide coverage of the commercial calendar, at least until April 2024. The average size is 23, 25 and 27.”

On the commercial front, the campaign got off to a good start in December. “On a European level, there is an unprecedented shortage of product, now confirmed to be about -30%. Unfortunately, the urgent demand has led to the phenomenon of early harvesting, which has resulted in products of inferior quality appearing on the market, tarnishing the image of the Italian green kiwi and, unfortunately, penalizing everyone involved in the sector, especially those who work honestly.”

“Prices were high in December. On the sales front, there was some slowdown

just before Christmas. This is a physiological trend of the period leading up to the holidays, when consumers tend to focus their attention on other items of spending. There is usually a pick-up in the middle of January, which is a period when the volume sales trends are usually a lot more interesting than the pre-Christmas period.”

STATISTICAL INFORMATION According to the data of the CSO, an institution that also carries out national and international statistics, the saleable production of Italian green kiwis in 2023 marks a greater than budgeted decline of more than -30 percent in comparison with 2022, due to the decrease in unit yields in almost all the main areas. Vegetable supply seems particularly subdued, more than 20 percentage points lower even compared to the previous deficit year, i.e., 2021. For the yellow-fleshed product, the harvested volume is shown to be significantly lower than originally expected.

The only case where a gradual decline was observed, despite a full area dedicated to kiwi production, was in Piedmont, with unit yields similar to last season. On the other hand, due to a variety of factors including summer weather, hail damage, wind damage and the return of spring frost, all other areas of northern Italy experienced a significant decline in productivity.

This has led to a decrease in production of varying degrees, ranging from -25% to about -45% compared to 2022, in several regions of northern Italy, with a more unfavorable situation in particular in the regions of Friuli, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. In the Lazio region, production is estimated to be almost -40% lower than last year, due to a combination of lower yields and a reduction in the area under cultivation. The regions of southern Italy also recorded reduced production levels in all areas; in Calabria there was a total production of -35% lower than in 2022, penalized in part by frost, and in Campania it was about 10 percentage points lower.

In total, the saleable production for 2023 is about 264,000 tons nationwide, of which 93,000 tons are yellow-flesh kiwis (+1% compared to last season) and 168,400 tons are green-flesh kiwis (-30% AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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some recovery, partly due to the regular closing of the season in the southern hemisphere. As of 30 November, according to data compiled by CSO Italy, domestic sales accounted for 18 percent of total stocks since the start of the campaign, compared with 16 percent in the same period last year, a much better situation than last year.

Due to the low level of supply, the price lists for November and December were higher than those of the previous campaign.

compared to the 2022 season). The supply of red-flesh kiwis is still rather limited. It is estimated at just over 3,000 tons.

As for the other producing countries in the northern hemisphere, production in Greece is expected to be at least 15 to 20 percent lower than in the forecast. That‘s an even bigger decline than last year. At the same time, there is a much higher level of production for the year 2022.

With the exception of Portugal, whose production is estimated to be slightly higher than in 2022 (+10%), and French kiwi supply, which is expected to be basically stable (+2%), all other European producer countries are showing declining volumes for the current season.

The quality of the product and the reduced production mean that there is no concern about product placement; on the contrary, they are trying to select in order to better manage the campaign, which will undoubtedly allow for high price lists, but will have to contend with the low supply. 

As a result, the market is adjusting to a much lower level of supply than in the previous season. Initially, there was

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Italy

Italian melon areas are decreasing, but the supply network is growing Italy is experiencing a decline in the area used to grow melons, which has dropped from more than 18,000 hectares in the last 10 years to the current 16,000 hectares. This trend can be observed almost everywhere in all the main production areas.

I

n northern Italy, and especially in Lombardy, the cultivated areas have been decreasing since 2016. It is estimated that, from more than 3,500 hectares in 2015, there are now less than 2,500 hectares, which represents a decrease of 30 per cent over the period considered. In the year 2023, the decrease compared to the previous year was 6 per cent. Investments also decreased in the Veneto region, to about 1,000 hectares by 2021 and 800 hectares by 2023. In Emilia Romagna, the situation has been stable for a number of years, at around 1,100 hectares, but it is lower than in the past, when it was more than 1,300 hectares. On the other

hand, investment trends are not very different in central and southern Italy. The areas are shrinking in Campania, which is now slightly more than 1,000 hectares, with the most significant reductions in the area of Battipaglia. Even in Sicily, there has been a continuous contraction leading to about 4,300 hectares in 2023.

The only exceptions to this trend are the Lazio region, which will remain stable or increase slightly to just under 1,200 hectares, and Basilicata, where cultivation is, however, rather marginal at around 450 hectares. The only exceptions to this trend are Lazio, where the area is stable or slightly increasing at just under 1,200

hectares, and Basilicata, where cultivation is rather marginal at around 450 hectares.

At the production level, the decline in investment has obviously had an impact on the productivity potential, as have the climatic trends, with an effect on the average yields per hectare. In the long run, national production has decreased from almost 650,000 tons to around 500,000 tons. In particular, the estimated supply in 2023, at 490,000 tons, was particularly low due to various climatic problems, registering a -8 percent decrease compared to the previous year.

Indeed, this year the weather season, especially in the northern regions, was very erratic in several areas, with fruit set problems due to cold and rainy weather in May. This was followed by a series of hailstorms that caused damage to the crop, and this resulted in an overall lower AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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yield, even compared to the already low 2022 yield.

Analyzing the critical aspects and highlights of melon production, is Pietro Paolo Ciardiello, Director of Coop Sole di Parete (Caserta). “One drawback is certainly the fact that in recent years there has been a significant decline in melon production in northern Italy, in comparison with central and southern Italy, where there are many more small and less structured companies than in the north, making it sometimes impossible to guarantee large supplies to the national and international market. However, in the last few years, compared to the past, the Italian melon has become more and more appreciated, because many entrepreneurs are working hard to improve the quality, the innovation and the diversification of the varieties. More importantly, we have extended the harvest calendar. Italy is now able to guarantee a supply of melons from April to September. Another strength is the extreme product differentiation, which allows us to capture different commercial seg-

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ments and respond to different time periods and consumption needs. There is certainly little aggregation at the national level, with the result that there is a fragmentation of supply, and this is a critical issue in the sector, rather than the fact that by working together we could overcome market challenges.”

“I believe,” said Ciardiello, “that if we are able to collaborate on a nationwide basis, to differentiate our product and improve its quality, we will achieve critical mass that will allow us to better target first the domestic market and then foreign markets. We have to work to make sure that the Italian melon has an added value, also because I am sure that the foreign countries are inclined to buy our product.

That is why we must work to continue to improve our melons in taste, aroma, storage life, sweetness (Brix°), and to produce melons that are beautiful to look at and good to eat.”

Commercially speaking, since 2018, retail purchases in Italy have averaged 160,000 tons, fluctuating, but not significantly.

Table Potatoes

During 2022, a year with a very significant decrease (-8%) for fruit and vegetables, melon purchases also decreased, but to a lesser extent (-3.7%), but against an average retail price increase of 16%.

In 2023, while prices increased by 23% compared to the previous year, quantities purchased decreased by 14%.

“The cultivation of melons is a sector that has been able to differentiate itself also in terms of variety. Based on a survey of Italian supermarkets, which represent a very high market share of almost 80% for this reference, the smooth melon has increased to 25% of available references, compared to 13% in 2019, with an average price difference of 1 euro per kilo, although this difference has tended to decrease in the last two seasons due to some promotional pressure on the smooth melon The number of products originating in Italy continues to grow, showing that consumers are becoming aware of where products come from and when. As a matter of fact, in the last few years there has been a steady decrease in imports to about 28,000 tons, in com-

Onions

parison with an average of almost 35,000 tons in previous years. Another important aspect that gives the product an advantage over other types of fruit and vegetables is that melons seem to be particularly appreciated by young people. Families with children under the age of 15 have increased their consumption over the last three years. Only families without children have decreased their consumption.

It is therefore a product that is loved by Italian consumers, by young people, and that has been able to stand out also in terms of quality.” 

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Italy

While quantities are down, there are exceptions that give hope to the sector

The italian pear sector shows signs of reviving “On my farm, the 2023 pear campaign went very well, with high yields per hectare,” says 33-year-old farmer Samantha Malaguti from the Italian province of Bologna. We have the Santa Maria, William, Abate and other club pear varieties. Above all, we have obtained very high calibers, especially from Abate. This year‘s prices are important, but we‘re not going to be compensated by the Cooperative until mid2024, so we‘re still waiting.”

S

amantha Malaguti runs and works on the family farm, which has 16 hectares of pear trees. In total, the farm has five hundred hectares of other orchards and farmland.

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In her area, in the province of Bologna, the frost was less devastating than in other areas. She saved much of her production by installing anti-frost systems in several orchards. The rebirth of the

Italian pear sector is therefore starting with active defense systems against frost and with agronomic techniques that allow for a timelier fight against insects and biotic agents.

DATA & STATISTICS After recovering in 2022, the Italian pear harvest returns to a somewhat unstable scenario in 2023, marking a new alltime low with volumes even worse than 2021. According to CSO, Italy‘s national fruit and vegetable statistics organization, the supply of pears (including waste and products for processing) is about 183,000 tons, down 65% from 2022.

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The most significant factor in the decline in production was again frost, which had a negative impact on productivity in the main production basins. In addition to reducing yields, the frost also contributed to a decline in quality. The summer weather, then characterized by frequent thunderstorms accompanied on several occasions by heavy hailstorms, further penalized the volume and quality of the product in many Italian producing areas.

Another trend that should not be overlooked is the negative trend in the surfaces of land destined to cultivation. In Italy, it went from 29,600 hectares in 2018 to 23,700 in 2023, a decrease of -20%.

Between 2022 and 2023, the decrease was even more pronounced at -8%. Until a few years ago, the annual decline was small, but since 2021 it has started to increase each year.

The 2023 supply in Emilia-Romagna ends at almost 99,000 tons, almost -70% compared to the previous year, and marks a decrease of about -25% even compared to the very bad 2021. All the varieties show a strong negative variation, with a more significant decrease for the Abate, the Conference, the Kaiser and the Decana. The 2023 season also showed a very low pear crop in the Veneto region.

A final estimate of around 17,000 tons of pears was quantified, which represents a decrease of nearly -70% compared to 2022.

Other northern regions, such as Piedmont, Lombardy and Friuli, have also seen their supplies plummet. In the southern regions, a number of negative factors, including poor flowering, an excessively warm winter, last summer‘s drought and damage from hail, resulted in a very limited 2023 supply, despite the absence of damage from frost.

In terms of quality, the 2023 product showed signs of improved quality in calibers compared to 2022. However, it was still below the average of previous years.

However, it should be remembered that this comparison is not significant. This is due to the very high percentage of small calibers in last year‘s harvest, which was penalized by drought and high temperatures. Last but not least, it is worth mentioning the high percentage of second-quality grade products and products that are discarded.

In terms of sales, only these critical production problems can have an impact on pear exports. If we take a look at the 2022/23 harvest year, since the current one is in full swing, we can observe a recovery in exports if we compare the data with the previous season (+85%), but this growth is dictated by a greater availability of product and is still below the potential. Exports are expected to reach around 71,600 tons, which corresponds to the 2019/20 season, but remains below the average of the last five years.

The EU-27 countries continue to be the most important destination, accounting for 89 percent of the total. Germany is always the first outlet market, with a doubling of the quantities shipped compared to the last campaign (27,600 tons) and very similar to the quantities shipped in the 2019/20 period. It was followed by France, which accounted for 21 percent of the total with around 15,000 tons. Exports to Austria were in third place with almost 6,000 tons, up +45 percent from last season. Non-EU countries accounted for 8% of shipments, with volumes up +18% on the previous campaign.

With 2,200 tons and a change of +24% compared to 2021/22, Switzerland is the most important destination. There is an increase in the movement of products destined for countries in Africa, almost all of which are destined for Libya. Farther destinations are still less relevant.

IMPORTS TO ITALY ON THE RISE Foreign pear imports into Italy for 2022 are similar to previous years and are highest since 2018. The main imports come from the EU27 countries. They are

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compared to the 2021 season and with volumes among the lowest in the last five years.

steadily increasing, with just over 71,000 tons (+17% compared to 2021). The Netherlands is ranked first, with 32,500 tons imported, almost doubling compared to 2021. Spanish product, at just 17,300 tons, dropped -50% from the much higher volumes of last year. There is also a

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strong increase in Belgian products, with imports amounting to 12,400 tons. South American product imports were concentrated in the first part of the year with almost 28,000 tons -31% compared to 2021. Both Argentine and Chilean origins are down -25% and -40% respectively

THE NETHERLANDS According to the studies carried out by the CSO, the production of pears in the Netherlands is expected to rise to 400,000 tons by 2020, after a slight decline in the last three years. Exports have gradually increased since 2019, always above 380,000 tons, showing a positive trend, peaking at over 400,000 tons only in 2022/23 (+6% over three years 2020/2022). There are currently well over 70 destination markets, but 90% of volumes remain in Europe, where Germany is the most important, representing 22% of exports last season. Poland and the United Kingdom follow with 10% of the total. The exchange with Belgium accounts for 8%. Among the European destinations in the last campaign, the largest volumes were seen in Poland (+28% compared to 2021/22), Spain (+20%), Sweden (+14%) and Norway (+12%). There was a decrease in volumes going to the UK, which dropped to 38,500 tons (-9% compared to 2021/22 levels),

with Belgium and France also trending down (-5%). The more distant destinations, although limited, include China, with volumes fluctuating between 5 and 6,000 tons in recent seasons.

BELGIUM According to the CSO, Belgium has seen an increase in exports as a result of an increase in production; in the commercial year 2022/23, exports approached 330,000 tons, an increase of +1% compared to the previous threeyear period, which was already at a good level. The largest shipments in the last campaign were, as always, directed mainly to the Dutch market, which absorbed 18 percent of total exports. There was an increase in the quantities sent to the United Kingdom (13% of the total), followed by France and Germany, with similar volumes between the two (12% of the total), compared to a few years ago. Quantities going to Lithuania and Poland increased significantly, now accounting for 7% and 6% of the total.

sons. Exports are mainly directed to Belarus, with 79% of the total and an increasing trend; exports to Kazakhstan and Ukraine (with 10% and 3% of the total, respectively) are far behind.

Spanish exports confirm a volatile trend. During the 2022/23 period, the volumes sent abroad were only 84,000, down 35% compared to the high volumes of 2021/22 and down 31% compared to the previous three years. The highest volumes were sent to Morocco, which accounted for 44% of the total in the last campaign, followed by France with 15%, Italy with 12%, Germany with 8%, and Brazil with 4%.

It is also worth noting that Poland and Spain continue to export. Polish exports are on the rise, with an average of over 110,000 tons (the last three seasons), but in the 2022/23 season they were 132,000 tons. This is also driven by production that has tended to increase in recent sea-

The destination scenario is very diverse and is made up of more than 60 countries in the 2022/23 season, but the volumes remain within Europe at 40 percent. 

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Spain

Spanish citrus season marked by low supply and constant transformation of the sector by investment funds The 2023/2024 Spanish citrus campaign has been characterized by the lowest harvest in the last 11 years, particularly for oranges, and higher prices that have not affected the consumption of mandarins and clementines, which has been strong, but have affected oranges.

Spanish retailers have once again increased the import of Egyptian oranges to be able to maintain their share, while the Spanish citrus sector continues to undergo a restructuring process with the purchase of companies by private equity funds.

A

ccording to Spanish producers and exporters interviewed by FreshPlaza, the demand for mandarins in the 2023/2024 season has been exceptionally high and satisfactory, with very high prices at origin before the campaign started and also higher retail prices. “This year, clementines and mandarins have an exceptional quality and taste. Very few fruits are discarded and consumption is

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good, despite the price increase at origin, which has been passed on to the final price. And the truth is that we expect this to remain the trend until the end of the campaign,” said Quico Peiró, operations director of Grupo Cañamás, one of the leading companies in the sector, marketing around 110,000-125,000 tons of citrus annually.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA), although the yields of small citrus fruits are estimated to be similar to those of last season, which were already low, they are 12.7% (-270,000 t) lower than the average of the last 5 seasons. Also, Castellon, the province producing the most clementines, was hit by hailstorms.

Meanwhile, the orange production has once again plummeted due to the drought.

According to the MAPA, the orange production is down 8.2% compared to the previous campaign and almost 24% (-832,000 t) compared to the average of the last 5. You would have to go back to the 2009/10 campaign to find a similar production.

There is a shortage of oranges this year, not only due to the drought in southern

Spain, but also because there is a lot of deformed fruit, with an oval shape, which significantly reduces its commercial value. It is difficult to find quality batches and they reach very high prices, which has had some impact on their consumption. In fact, in recent years, orange consumption has been losing ground to easy-peelers, like mandarins.

MORE EGYPTIAN ORANGES TO MAKE UP FOR THE SHORTAGES The dramatic drop in the orange production has led many Spanish retailers to resort to Egypt again. It is worth recalling that in the previous campaign, citrus imports from Egypt by EU-27 countries grew by 108.5%, to 493,537 tons, between September 2022 and August 2023, although the bulk of the volume – 98.7% – was imported from January onwards.

Egypt has also had many oranges with the same problem as Spanish oranges due to

the drought: the atypical oval shape, and for destinations requiring long transit times, EU regulations and many European chains limit the use of fungicides and other chemical products to facilitate their preservation. Despite this, it is undeniable that in the 2022/2023 campaign, the imports of Egyptian oranges increased significantly and are expected to grow again this year. It is important to note that increasingly more Spanish operators are buying the goods directly in Egypt, bypassing Dutch re-exporters. Spain‘s foreign trade data, provided by Datacomex, already confirms this trend for the past two campaigns, revealing that while in 2021, Spanish imports of oranges from the Netherlands totaled 24,043 tons (up 25% compared to the 19,255 tons acquired from Dutch operators in 2020), in 2022 they fell by 57%, to 10,326 tons.

As for lemons, we expect the harvest to reach a record

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1.167 million tons, 35% more than in the previous season, when it had dropped significantly, but 14% (+134,000 t) above the average of the last 5 seasons. The 2023/2024 campaign is being commercially difficult for lemons, whose price is at the edge of profitability. Not only is the production high in Spain, but other countries that compete with it, such as Turkey, also have large volumes this campaign, after several years of low harvests.

However, due to unusual heat since last spring, calibers are somewhat smaller than usual and the processing industry is not absorbing much quantity, nor offering acceptable prices.

As for grapefruit, according to forecasts, the grapefruit production may be the third biggest in history, with about 80,000 tons; 2% more than in the latest campaign. The commercial situation of grapefruit is similar to that of lemons, with a rather quiet demand.

INVESTMENT FUNDS ALREADY ACCOUNT FOR A QUARTER OF THE CITRUS SECTOR‘S TURNOVER In recent years, the citrus sector has often seen the merger of large companies to form powerful groups backed by investment funds, something that is significantly changing the productive and commercial structure of the Spanish citrus sector. In fact, as published by expert Paco Borrás in Food Retail, funds already account for a quarter of the citrus sector’s turnover.

In 2016, the investment fund Miura entered one of the largest Spanish citrus companies, Martinavarro, which together with Perales and Ferrer, Riotinto Fruits, San Miguel, in Argentina and Uruguay,

Frutas Esther, the Brazilian Agrícola Famosa and Arco Fruits now form Citri&Co. Since then, there have been more transactions of the sort involving other leading companies in the sector, leading to the creation of the group The Natural Fruit, created by the Fremman fund and formed by Fruxeresa, Frugarva and Frutas Naturales, as well as Naturgreen, Marzal and Hermanos Bruñó, which incorporated Frutas Bollo in 2023. Also in 2023, there was the merger of Guillem Export and Frutas Tono, backed by the Atitlan fund, as well as that of V. Ros with Iberian Premium Fruits, a group initially formed by the merger of Llusar (part of SanLucar) and Naranjas Torres, created by the MCH fund.

In the opinion of Quico Peiró, of Grupo Cañamás, “the entry of funds entails a professionalization of the sector; a process that is also developing very quickly, as the change has happened over just five years in which there has been a total transformation of the sector’s structure, improving its balance and strength.

Thanks to this professionalization, there is increasingly greater unity of criteria on issues such as qualities, calibers, yields or prices,” says Quico Peiró, of Cañamás.

“The entry of funds has also brought a vertical reform of the entire value chain, affecting the dynamics of field purchases, packaging in the industry or sales dynamics. And that‘s good for the sector, because it pushes us to improve day by day and also fosters different agents to stand closer together.”

It is also worth recalling the merger of the Castellon-based cooperative San Alfonso with the company Clasol in 2023 to form Grupo Clasol, an innovative business model in citrus production, combin-

ing the best of the cooperative and private models, but without the entry of any funds.

“Most European Union countries have a concentrated demand, with just a few chains controlling most of the market.

That‘s why large horticultural groups have been formed in recent years, with the purpose of gaining size and, with it, purchasing and selling capacity,” explains César Claramonte, CEO of Grupo Clasol, based in the municipality of Borriana, in Castellon. “They put pressure on the prices at origin and increasingly control them. This is a trend that will continue.”

“In this context, cooperatives are increasingly losing capacity to meet the demands of large global distributors,” says Emilio Balaguer, president of the San Alfonso Cooperative, located in Betxí, Castellon.

“As a result, the number of cooperatives in the province of Castellon has gone from 36 in 2000 to 8 in 2023. Cooperatives have been left in no man‘s land and will have to continue reinventing themselves.”

“We want to grow to a big enough size to be able to talk ‘eye to eye’ with the large distributors, but we aim to do so backed by agriculture, not by investment funds,” says César Claramonte. “We are setting up a pioneering and independent business model to defend the interests of small local producers, as well as an alternative economic viability plan for cases where there is no generational replacement, or for smaller cooperatives. Our goal is for our platform to set the standard for an integrated project managed by producers,” he says. 

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Spain

Armando Pérez, of Anecoop:

“Spanish papaya is achieving moderate and constant sales growth every year” P

apayas are the exotic crop that has been growing the most in recent years in Spain. Their production is mainly carried out in the Canary Islands and the southeastern peninsula, especially in Almeria and the Region of Murcia. A total of around 15,000 tons are produced, and about 5,000 of those are exported every year.

At the national level, one of the main producing and marketing entities is the second-degree cooperative Anecoop, which in the latest campaign reached 2100 tons.

Anecoop‘s papaya production and marketing project falls under the umbrella of the Bouquet Exotic brand, which was launched in 2012 to supply the European market with tropical and exotic fruits.

This line of exotic products first included mango, avocado, cherimoya, pomegranate, fig, or loquat, and from 2016, papayas came also into play through their own research projects and with the collaboration of the University of Almería.

“Our papaya production started in Almeria, first with independent growers and later, with the creation of the association Exóticos del Sur,” says Armando Pérez, Head of Exotic Sales at Anecoop. “After verifying that Almeria’s climatic conditions would allow the cultivation of papayas under cover, we aimed for producers to have a new alternative for their greenhouses, where they traditionally produced vegetables. To this end, we selected two varieties that we believe are better adapted to Almeria’s weather conditions and that offer a better quality and taste, namely the Intenzza and the Sweet Sense.” The Almeria-based cooperative Hortamar, a member of Anecoop, which has fruit sorting and packaging machinery in its facilities, currently accounts for the bulk of production in Almeria.

Spain continues to carve out a niche as a producer and supplier of exotic fruits to European markets. In addition to already established products, such as avocado, mango, cherimoya, and pomegranate, there is still room to grow with fruits like papaya and, more recently, pitahaya, among others, offered in Europe as local products, as opposed to overseas imports.

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“Later, we decided to diversify our production in Murcia thanks to the Durán company, whose production we have been marketing exclusively since 2018.

Through this diversification plan, which also brought in producers from Malaga, we ended up integrating the Canary Islands as a producing area within our project, taking part in the CARISMED

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AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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FRUCHTWELT BODENSEE 2024 Freitag, 23. Februar 2024

Samstag, 24. Februar 2024

10:00 Uhr / Foyer West

10:00 Uhr / Foyer West

Begrüßung und Eröffnung

Projekt DyNatCool – Nachhaltige Obstlagerung bei explodierenden Energiepreisen und Verbot der Kältemittel

42. Obstbautage

Erich Röhrenbach (Vorsitzender der Obstregion Bodensee e.V.), Dr. Manfred Büchele (Geschäftsführer Kompetenzzentrum Obstbau Bodensee), Andreas Brand (Oberbürgermeister der Stadt Friedrichshafen), Jens Stechmann (Vorsitzender der Bundesfachgruppe Obstbau und Bundesaussschuss Obst und Gemüse), Franz Josef Müller (Präsident Landesverband Erwerbstobstbau BW e.V.), Minister Peter Hauk (Ministerium für Ernährung Ländlichen Raum und Verbraucherschutz Baden-Württemberg)

11:30 Uhr / Foyer West

Podiumsdiskussion: Gemeinsam für eine zukunftsfähige regionale Obstproduktion – Wo sind die Stellschrauben entlang der Obstwertschöpfungskette?

Minister Peter Hauk, Tim Strübing (Geschäftsführer Obst vom Bodensee Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH), Thomas Heilig (Vorsitzender der Obstregion Bodensee e.V.), Robin Halle (Mitglied der Chefredaktion, Leiter Aktuelles, SZ), Moderation: Manfred Ehrle

Dr. Daniel Neuwald (Leiter Fachbereich Ernte, Lagerung und Fruchtqualität, Kompetenzzentrum Obstbau Bodensee), Felix Büchele (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter)

10:30 Uhr / Raum Österreich

* Einsatz von hocharomatischen Spezialmalzen in der Brennerei

Heike Gumsheimer (Projektmanagerin Fairdi)

Erste wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse aus den Modellanlagen auf Praxisbetrieben Dr. Ulrich Mayr (stellv. Geschäftsführer Kompetenzzentrum Obstbau Bodensee, Leiter Fachbereich Sortenprüfung), Nils Siefen (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter)

CO2-Fußabdruck von BodenseeÄpfeln – Status quo und Optimierungspotenziale Nils Rettenmaier (Themenleiter Bereich Biomasse und Ernährung, IFEU)

16:00 Uhr

Apfel unter Agri-PV – erste Anbauerfahrungen

Dr. Ulrich Mayr (stellv. Geschäftsführer Kompetenzzentrum Obstbau Bodensee, Leiter Fachbereich Sortenprüfung), Anne Bohr (Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin)

16:20 Uhr

Herausforderungen und Möglichkeiten von Photovoltaik-Freiflächenanlagen für die Landwirtschaft Dr. Dominik Modrzejewski (Fachreferent Pflanzliche Erzeugung, Landesbauernverband Stuttgart)

Das Absatzpotential im deutschen Birnenmarkt wird nicht genutzt, welche Birnensorten pflanzen?

Helwig Schwartau (Marktnanalyst, Bereichsleiter Gartenbau, AMI) 15:30 Uhr

Birnen nicht mit Äpfeln vergleichen – Anbautechniken für die Birnenproduktion

10:45 Uhr

Wo stehe ich im Wettbewerb? – Mit dem betriebswirtschaftlichen Vergleich Potentiale ausschöpfen und Zukunft sichern Robert Luer (Geschäftsführer Zentrum für Betriebswirtschaft im Gartenbau) 12:00 Uhr

Ansprache Bundeslandwirtschaftsminister

Ronald Vermeulen (Obstbauberater, Zoelen/NL) 16:00 Uhr

Birn mal dein Hirn: Obst-Marketing neu gedacht

Janina Bembenek (Leitung Marketing Obst, vom Bodensee Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH), Dr. Inga Mohr (Leitung Brand & Sustainability Obst vom Bodensee Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH)

Cem Özdemir (Bundesminister für Ernährung und

Sonntag, 25.Februar 2024

13:15 Uhr

Der Bio-Markt ist wieder im Aufwind.

Auch Äpfel profitieren, aber wie gestaltet sich die Zukunft in Europa?

Helwig Schwartau (Marktanalyst, Bereichsleiter

15:10 Uhr

15:00 Uhr

Philipp Schwarz (Brennereiexperte, Dozent, Fachbu-

Landwirtschaft)

14:45 Uhr / Foyer West

Arthur Nägele (Ausbildungsleiter, Die Spirituosenakademie, Rheineck/CH)

chautor)

14:30 Uhr

FAIRDI – die Nachhaltigkeitsinitiative der Obstbauern vom Bodensee

14:00 Uhr / Raum Österreich

* Wacholder zum Feuer der Früchte: Eine sensorische Reise durch die Welt des Gins und die Lehren für Obstbrände

09:30 Uhr / Foyer West

Vortragsreihe: Digitalisierung und Automatisierung im Sonderkulturanbau

Gartenbau, AMI) 13:45 Uhr

Vertrieb von Bio-Obst aus der Bodenseeregion. Aktuelle Situation und Potentiale

Markus Schraff (Leitung Vertrieb Bio, Obst vom Bodensee Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH), Birgit Gutberlett-Geisinger (Geschäftsführerin Ökobo GmbH)

14:00 Uhr

Potential schorfwiderstandsfähiger Apfelsorten zur Reduktion der Behandlungsintensität

Zukunftsfähiger Sonderkulturanbau durch Digitalisierung und Automatisierung?

Dr. Hermann Gabele (Leitung Landwirtschaftsamt, LRA Bodenseekreis)

Erfahrungen mit Erntemaschinen für Spargel Carsten Wenke (Landwirtschaftskammer NRW, Bildungszentrum Gartenbau und Landwirtschaft)

Automatisierte Erdbeerernte im geschützten Anbau durch Ernteroboter Berry Hannah Brown (Geschäftsführerin Organifarms)

Sascha Buchleither (Leiter Fachbereich Ökologischer

Automatisierte Ernte von Kernobst in den USA

Landbau, Kompetenzzentrum Obstbau Bodensee)

Ines Hanrahan (Geschäftsführende Direktorin Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission)

14:15 Uhr

Anbau im System – der ökologische Obstanbau

Nikolaus Glocker, Johannes Bentele (Vorsitzende Fördergemeinschaft Ökologischer Landbau e.V.)

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fund and forming a strong bond with Frutas del Noroeste, thereby gaining a foothold in this region,” says Armando Pérez.

“Since we started the papaya project, we have achieved an average annual commercial growth of between 10 and 15%, although in the latest campaign our sales grew by 49%; a percentage that we will surpass again in this 2023/2024 season, thanks to the fact that the Durán company, in Murcia, doubled its acreage devoted to papayas, going from 16 to 32 hectares,” highlights Armando Pérez.

For the papayas, Anecoop implemented a similar model to that applied for the production and marketing of its watermelons, which involves being in control of every step, from the planting to the final sale, with a commitment to its growers of providing a commercial outlet for different sizes and qualities. Its production runs from October to July, although the peak is reached in March. In general, sales remain stable throughout the campaign, although they usually rebound quite a bit in December, a month in which there is usually more demand for exotic products in general.

Spanish papaya competes mainly with that of Brazil. “90% of the papayas sold in Europe come from Brazil; however, Spain is taking advantage of the constant growth in the consumption of this exotic fruit, boosted by its taste and nutritional properties. Spanish papayas are achieving moderate and constant sales growth, competing against air-shipped goods from Brazil and ensuring a lower environmental impact and smaller carbon footprint, given their proximity. With the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, air freight became more irregular

and much more expensive, which facilitated the entry of our papayas in Europe, changing the scenario in our favor,” says the head of Exotics at Anecoop.

For now, their sales are mainly aimed at the export market, although the fruit is also distributed through small national supermarket chains. “The Spanish retail does not currently consider domestic papayas attractive enough, especially due to the thermal spots that the fruits can present on the skin due to the temperature contrasts between day and night in the winter months, which does actually not affect the product’s internal quality in any way. The Canary Island banana managed to differentiate itself positively from imported bananas precisely by highlighting the spots on its skin as a unique feature,” says Armando. “Perhaps it would be necessary to do something similar for papayas, reeducating distributors and consumers. Moreover, according to a scientific study, these spots indicate that our papayas have more vitamin C.”

“In countries like Germany or France, however, being able to acquire an exotic product of European origin is certainly appreciated. The fact that the demand is increasing every year tells us that there is still a lot of potential for papayas, but good planning is required, as there are growers who have started to produce large quantities due to the high yields that this crop offers, but have then been unable to find a commercial outlet,” he says.

Anecoop also highlights the success achieved with the marketing of green papayas, intended for consumption in salads or for cooking. “It is a good strate-

gy to allow you to supply a mature product of better quality to the market. Green fruit is a complement, with only 10% marketed like that, and harvesting quotas are set together with the producers,” says Armando. “However, it is a more niche line and its market can become easily saturated, so we always collect and market this product on demand.”

“With homogeneous varieties and control of the production calendar, pitahaya offers great potential” 3 years ago, the company also started marketing pitahaya for its exotic line, a project that has also taken off in Almeria.

“One of the complexities of the pitahaya business is the great diversity of varieties that are produced and the consequent lack of homogeneity, which is needed for its consumption to consolidate. Sometimes, we have come across growers producing up to 30 different varieties in just half or one hectare. Homogenizing varieties is one of our top priorities, so we have only selected 3, the ones we believe work well,” says Armando Pérez.

“Pitahaya is a product with high production costs, since its pollination must be carried out manually and during the night, which not only makes it hard to find personnel, but also more expensive. But its production calendar is perhaps the biggest pending issue. It is quite an anarchic crop; in fact, in the 3 campaigns that we have had, the harvesting dates have been different every time. However, once these challenges are overcome, Spanish pitahaya has a lot of potential to compete as a local European product against origins such as Vietnam or Ecuador,” concludes the head of Exotics at Anecoop.  AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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The Netherlands

Franklin Ginus, Fairtrasa Holland:

“We want to be part of the solution” Regenerative organic is a new addition to the slew of certificates. “It‘s something entirely new,” begins Franklin Ginus of Fairtrasa. He is referring to Regenerative Organic Certified® bananas, which were introduced at the last Fruit Attraction. Fairtrasa focuses on marketing organic, Fairtrade fruit.

“I

t‘s become unavoidable. Just look outside, and you‘ll see the climate changing. We want to do our part. Fairtrasa introduced the first Fairtrade avocado in 2005, and we want to keep innovating in

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this and be part of the solution.” Fairtrasa aims to be carbon negative by 2030.

SUPER-HEALTHY SOIL That is where the regenerative aspect of regenerative organic bananas comes in.

The Regenerative Organic Alliance website states: “Regenerative organic farming is a collection of practices that focus on restoring the health of the soil and the entire farm ecosystem.” Franklin says, “The focus on healthy soil is accomplished through, for example, combination farming, no-tillage, using compost and cover crops and, of course, omitting harmful chemical crop protection products.

These methods contribute to a strong, balanced, highly biodiverse ecosystem.

You ensure the soil is super healthy, and so storing more CO2 than it releases.”

Franklin states that soil analysis is vital for regenerative organic certification,

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which Fairtrasa has. As the name implies, it is organic, too. “Healthy soil with lush plants absorbs CO2 and strengthens the plants, making them more resistant to diseases such as Black Sigatoka,” he says.

MICROORGANISMS Franklin reveals that regenerative banana farming‘s effect on the fungal disease Tropical Race 4 (TR4) and Panama disease is being studied. “If regenerative cultivation could solve TR4, the disease wouldn‘t disappear; the microorganisms living in the soil would attack the fungi. That would prevent the fungus from entering the tree stem and destroying the banana plant. It would be a huge step forward.”

Another aspect is crop volumes. Ginus has determined that to be around 500 boxes more per hectare per year than the 2,200 boxes organic average. A remarkable statistic. Franklin notes that sustainable alternatives soon face profitability issues. He sees the organic market share, around 10% for bananas, growing, but not very fast.

SHOPPING DIFFERENTLY While Franklin acknowledges that these products must be affordable, he adds that consumers must also make a choice. “If the earth‘s dear to you and you want to leave healthy soil, a livable atmosphere, and food security to your descendants, you‘ll have to deliberately shop differently. You must buy products that actually add something and provide solutions to the problems we all face. Regenerative organic bananas aren‘t much more expensive than organic. That makes a difference,” he explains. According to Franklin, these regenerative organic bananas’ introduction at the recent Fruit Attraction was met with positive reactions. Fairtrasa has noted interest from, for instance, wholesalers and retailers across Europe, including the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Scandinavia, and Germany. The first certified regenerative organic bananas will be available from Janaury 2024.

DISTINCTIVE “You must find parties prepared to pay for that added value. These bananas

aren’t significantly pricier than standard organic Fairtrade, but wholesalers or supermarkets can distinguish themselves with this product.” Besides helping to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals - Franklin says they cover 14 - regenerative organic bananas can also help retailers achieve their goals.

“Our product lets you achieve your goals regarding, say, becoming carbon neutral,” he points out.

“Globally, we produce 37 gigatons annually; a quarter of that comes from the industrial, agricultural sector. To find a genuine solution, the fruit and vegetable sector must do something different.

That‘s why we‘re marketing these regenerative organic bananas. We’re, thus, looking for like-minded people, both in production - Fairtrasa works with a certified grower from Ecuador and is scaling up in Peru - and in marketing. We must now just connect,” Franklin concludes.  franklin.ginus@fairtrasa.com

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17/01/2023 11:41:08

Turkiye

Horticulture in Türkiye: chances aplenty, but with snags Türkiye is a major producer and exporter of horticultural products. A favorable climate, cheap labor, and possible geothermal energy make this possible. Antalya is the country‘s horticultural capital. Of Türkiye‘s roughly 78,000 hectares of primarily plastic greenhouses, about a third are in and around that city. Glass greenhouses like the Dutch ones are few and far between, though there is interest. Conversely, the Netherlands is watching Türkiye with interest.

T

hat interest has undoubtedly grown, given the increased energy prices in the Netherlands in the past two years.

That crisis got Dutch growers thinking about growing in more southern countries during the winter. You could go it alone, but there are plenty of Turkish growers in place who want to export. Last winter, more of that country’s products entered the Northwest European market.

There are the familiar close horticultural ties with Germany and Poland, but people in the Netherlands also approached Türkiye. The ZON cooperative, for example, auctioned Turkish tomatoes. Meeting European standards is, however, still challenging for that country‘s growers, and laboratories are reportedly receiving more residue analysis requests.

Türkiye is not a European Union member, so different rules apply. Nowadays, with Dutch companies seeking the Turkish market, it is no different. In the 1990s, the first technology companies saw a lot of plastic greenhouses, but unusually, also glass greenhouses. These “domelike,” spherical greenhouses were poorly ventilated and especially suitable for winter cultivation, though summers were far too hot for proper cultivation.

They still are, so most growers cultivate in winter, leaving greenhouses, especially those near the coast, standing empty.

Further inland, temperatures are milder in summer but colder in winter. There is one advantage: in some regions, growers can use geothermal heat to help heat the greenhouses. Deep drilling is often

unnecessary because you can often find hot water a ‚mere‘ kilometer deep.

The acreage was modernized, and modern plastic greenhouses built. First by overseas companies, but soon, Turkish companies jumped in. Notable, around the year 2000, are Turkish company investments in the sector. Large construction companies that had nothing to do with horticulture until then started pouring money into greenhouses. Those companies saw that as a diversification opportunity to supplement, say, their road construction work.

THE LIRA Jumping ahead to 2023. There were good and bad years along the way, and Türkiye‘s horticulture kept expanding.

According to a report from the late 1990s, there were, at the time, ‚strikingly many‘ glasshouses compared to other countries around the Mediterranean. Those have since largely disappeared. Yet, the handful that remains are modern. For the average small-scale Turkish grower, investing in a modern glass greenhouse simply costs too much. And that is where a significant sore point - the lira, TürkiAGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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ye‘s currency - comes in. Its value has declined dramatically recently; within five years, the lira/euro exchange fell from 6 lira to the euro to over 30 euros for one lira.

This spring was especially bad for the Turkish currency. That, though, benefitted exports, making them easier. Some say that was also what the Turkish government intended. A disadvantage is that importing has become more difficult.

Türkiye still has a negative trade balance.

Companies that have euros because they trade with Europe are especially able to invest in European techniques. That is not the case for most smaller, cooperative-affiliated Turkish growers.

Look out a plane‘s window when flying over Türkiye, and you will see a sea of greenhouses, much like in southern Spain. Many say that comparison is justified in many ways. The greenhouses are, for instance, in similar technical states.

Spain, however, is a member of the EU, which brings the advantage that country’s growers are entitled to EU subsidies such as the former GMO and now SIG&F. They can, thus, invest in ways that are far beyond Turkish growers‘ reach.

For example, water shortages are forcing Spanish growers to buy into desalination plants. That is not happening in Türkiye, where water “wasn‘t a problem but is now becoming one.” It is just too expensive.

Modern Turkish growers also increasingly practice non-soil cultivation. While their money lies in the bank, it gradually loses value. And that is sometimes a reason to invest what money the growers have, resulting, if need be, in a project that can be finished once funds are available again.

POLITICS There is minimal overseas investment in Turkish horticulture. Most of that currently comes from the Middle East and Türkiye itself, as was heard at the Growtech horticultural trade show. That annual event in Antalya grows more popular every year. The increasing number of Dutch exhibitors and ‘orange’ visitors testify to that. They, however, cannot compete in numbers of visitors from Türkiye, Russia, Russia‘s neighboring countries, and the Middle East. For people from those regions, it is often practically easier to visit Türkiye than a fair in Northwest Europe. Again: different rules.

Those different rules are also why Turkish labor is still well-priced. Growers

View from the plane: greenhouses everywhere

interested in that country‘s horticulture call it “a cost-price country.” That refers to the lower costs involved in Turkish cultivation, much of which are labor costs. At the trade show, it was striking that automation enjoyed relatively little attention compared to Northwest European events.

Not surprising when labor is not the most significant issue. For overseas companies, besides Türkiye‘s currency, the country‘s political situation is the “biggest problem.”

not exclusively for agriculture and horticulture. Those who dare look beyond the country’s politics and the lira will find a promising horticultural country with the possibility of exporting greenhouse vegetables to Russia. A mega-marketing country, but with 85 million inhabitants, so is Türkiye itself. 

It is considered ‚unstable‘ through Western glasses, though non-European companies, too, sometimes see it as such.

They see opportunities in fruit growing but must also deal with the political situation. Still, the Turkish government is trying hard to attract foreign investors, AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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The Netherlands

Paul Schockman, Freshclusive:

“We use innovations to try and make our trade streams as sustainable as possible” “We‘re expanding rapidly and are working noticeably more efficiently,” begins Freshclusive co-owner Paul Schockman. “Since our start in 2022 and move to [the Dutch town of] Aalsmeer we‘ve only had more chances to innovate and optimize. And we notice that in the internal as well as external processes: we offer our customers more than good service, we also create room for growth, reflection, and action: also in, for instance, the area of sustainability,” he begins.

P

aul attributes the company‘s success partly to things like Freshclusive being quite new on the market. “Then there‘s still much to gain. The rapid growth is also partly thanks to our employee network, who all have experience in the fruit and vegetable world. They know how it works, and you notice that positively.

When we were just starting out, it was hard to find a suitable, refrigerated ware-

house space with enough power capacity close to Schiphol.”

“We found that temporarily at our partner Scherpenhuizen in Eindhoven. We could begin operations there until we had found a suitable space of our own in the Randstad. For goods logistics, the Eindhoven location was fine. From a staff perspective, though - most are from the

Aalsmeer region - the long travel time made it less than ideal. Nevertheless, it gave us the chance we needed and was thus one of the crucial reasons for our flying start,” Paul admits.

GLOBAL Freshclusive sources fruit and vegetables via an expansive global network, connecting growers and customers worldwide. Paul sees that more suppliers are needed to serve a customer year-round.

Due to, for example, increasingly extreme weather and erratic logistics, having multiple suppliers to fall back on is becoming more important. He points out that you soon need five or six growers to fill a single product throughout the year.

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The Netherlands

To combat the mountains of e-waste, Tapp data loggers use paper that is recycled worldwide

wishes, you no longer need a broker to arrange things. Fruits and vegetables‘ problem, though, is that their growth isn‘t linear. Sometimes there‘s more, sometimes less. It changes per season and country. Buyers, thus, quickly need multiple suppliers to fill their fruit and vegetable shelves and meet consumer demand. We provide that solution, and if there is a climate or logistical issue somewhere, our broad network can often provide different suppliers. That‘s how we serve our customers optimally.”

Regardless of the trade flows, Freshclusive strives to make them as sustainable as possible. “Our building in the Netherlands is gasless, and thanks to our solar panels - which generate more electricity than we use - we‘re self-sufficient. To prevent waste, we also, for instance, don‘t keep stock in our warehouse. Some 40% of our trade doesn‘t even come to the warehouse but goes directly to the client.

We‘re continually trying to be innovative and arrange our flows as sustainably as possible,” says Schockman.

PAPER DATA LOGGERS That is also why Freshclusive likes using Tapp‘s paper data loggers. “We‘ve been using this innovative development since its inception because we want to help reduce e-waste.” For Freshclusive, monitoring temperature is particularly important during its logistics processes.

“We use the paper data loggers daily with our international shipments because we like knowing if the temperature has been within the normal range during trans-

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port. Sometimes, temperature conditions en route weren‘t right for the product. With the logger data, we can prov, say, whether the carrier was negligent or if other things played a role. You can thus find the cause much faster and more specifically and then solve it. With a next shipment, too,” Paul explains.

“It‘s that e-waste – Tapp estimates about 50 million plastic or other poorly recyclable data loggers are tossed away annually - is why we‘re needed,” says Niels Postma, Tapp‘s founder. “Data loggers include circuit boards, batteries, screens, lights, and buttons; basically, a mini-computer being thrown out after a single use.” That very short lifespan of electronic equipment poses particular problems, Niels observes. “That waste mountain is growing almost exponentially,” he says.

SHRINKING THE WASTE MOUNTAIN From a desire to do something about that mountain of waste, Tapp went in search of an alternative material and ended up with paper. “The beauty of paper is that it‘s recycled all over the world, so our paper data loggers have zero impact.

Also, the paper we use is made from agricultural waste. We use a waste stream to which you add printed electronics; it can log data for up to a year, and then you can throw the paper away with a clear conscience.”

Tapp uses a minute chip - only slightly bigger than an average grain of sand - a battery that prints with ink and a phone as an interface. “We remove the

electronics from the paper via a smartphone, which everyone has. The chip and the ink used are both filtered out of the paper during the recycling process, just like ‚regular‘ ink or staples,” Niles explains. He points out the printed battery‘s additional advantage: you can fly with it, no problem. “Lithium batteries normally used in data loggers are increasingly being banned from aircraft holds because of safety concerns. You are allowed to transport the printed battery we use.”

PER CONSUMER DEMAND An aspect Freshclusive considered when weighing whether to use paper data loggers and a printed battery is the increasing focus on sustainability versus product supply and demand. Paul sees the demand for pear-round available products keeps growing. To fill that, you sometimes need to use air freight. “If people genuinely don‘t want flown-in products anymore, they rely on what‘s available locally,” he knows.

“The media repeatedly reports that the populace wants to live as sustainably as possible, that local for local is becoming the new trend and that, for example, eating avocados is now not the done thing.

But the demand we receive tells a different story: so far, it‘s only rising. Until that changes, we happily fulfil that demand for healthy products while ensuring that process is as sustainable as possible,” Paul concludes.  info@freshclusive.com

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The Netherlands

Daniel Dammann of the Dero Groep

Process control, the common thread through automated avocado packaging The ready-to-eat avocado trend makes small packaging more popular at retailers without sacrificing other packaging. Wholesalers and restaurants, on the other hand, prefer packaging with avocados that are not yet fully ripe. Workers can easily switch from one package to another if necessary. Can a fully automated line do that, too?

I

n the Netherlands, five kilometers from Schiphol airport, the Dero Groep designs and produces various robot technology-based, fully automated handling and packaging solutions for fruit, vegetables, and other fresh products. “Our robots take mere minutes to switch between different packaging processes. For our partners, time is money. We must capitalize on that,” begins Daniel Dammann.

PROCESS CONTROL The group has a large, established base in the cheese sector and supplies both stand-alone systems and fully automated solutions. Those are done in cooper-

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ation with other technology suppliers and without. Besides robot cells for handling unpackaged and packaged products, the delivery program also includes crate de-stackers and stackers, weighing, labeling, and inspection equipment, box erectors, and equipment needed for supply and removal. The company operates overseas, too, via an international agent network.

It is common knowledge that automation saves labor. “But in automating avocado packing, the common thread is process control. Much of our hybrid model‘s revenue model lies in its flexibility to switch from one packaging to another.”

HOW DOES AN AUTOMATED PACKAGING LINE WORK? An operator delivers the crates of avocados to the line. They are then aligned and optically scanned for visual aspects like size, gloss, or peel defects. Further down the conveyor belt, robots with vacuum grippers pick up the avocados individually and place them on a tray or crate, depending on the desired package size. If the next batch of avocados needs a different type of packaging, that information is quickly entered into the system. A few minutes later, the robots begin working with an entirely different configuration.

“That‘s exactly the flexibility a human has that wasn‘t possible with robots.

Until now, that is, thanks to our solution.

Hence, the word ‚hybrid‘: you can use the robots for all kinds of packaging. We‘re also responding to a trend we‘re seeing: ready-to-eat avocados. Consumers would rather buy one or two ripe avocados than a tray of six. The packaging range has,

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thus, expanded, and our robots have no problem with that,” says Daniel.

TWEE OPERATORS AND A SUPERVISOR The Dero Groep is currently working on several packaging lines that will minimize the manual labor their customers need. Besides an operator driving the crates from the ripening cells and another at the end of the line disposing of the packed product, the crate unstacking and emptying, avocado sorting and packing, and carton re-stacking can be done fully automatically. “All that you then need is a supervisor who‘s also responsible for daily preventive maintenance. They must do a visual check other than what‘s indicated automatically, like checking the suction cups.”

In consultation with the customer, the company can supply a whole line or just the packing module. They manufacture this part themselves. “But clients often want to be totally unburdened. We can then take on an entire project and engage with all parties. We have all the facilities and the people on board to coordinate such an assignment properly. We‘ve met several suppliers for collaborations and testing. We have our preferences, but because customers also have theirs,

we learn about other parties‘ machines‘ advantages, too,” Dammann explains.

COMPETITION COMPELS AUTOMATION DRIVE A flexible Dero Groep packaging line has a two to three-year return on investment horizon. “Though, how many daily shifts a client runs makes a huge difference.

And with two avocados per tray packs, your throughput is much lower than with crates of 20, even if the robots work just as hard or even harder.”

Regardless, according to Daniel, if you still want to make money in the sector, you must automate. “We‘ve recently become incredibly aware of avocados‘ nutritional value. Due to the tremendous market demand, the number of suppliers has risen enormously, which in turn depresses prices. If you‘re still working with many hands, you’ll ultimately fail.

Don’t forget the food safety aspect, either.

If you automate right, no hands touch the product. That‘s a considerable selling point toward retail,” he says.

Would the Dero Groep solution work for other fruit? “Avocado is now a year-round product, so supply comes from overseas, too. The fruit‘s characteristics from different areas of origin all differ, directly

impacting the suction cup type. We made a whole study of that. You can thus extend that diversity in avocados to other delicate products like apples or pears.”

The group has the know-how to provide technology to make the packaging process of top fruit, mangoes, persimmons, and other kinds of fruit more efficient, says Daniel.” At the last Fruit Attraction, we noticed an increasingly loud market demand for the automated processing of more fruit varieties. And it‘s certainly not just about replacing hands, but rather about controlling the entire processing process,” he concludes.  daniel.dammann@dero-groep.nl

Scan this qr code for a video of packing avocados with (delta) robots

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The Netherlands

Nut market seeks balance in volatile demand and growing supply Before the global pandemic, the nut market grew gradually. During the pandemic, however, demand exploded, begins Kees Blokland of Nuts2 BV/ Global Trading & Agency. This Dutch company trades in nuts, among other things. He says, then, spending patterns left room for more luxury items like nuts because many other expenses, such as eating out and travel, were suddenly off the table. But the health aspect plays a role, too. “Science-based health claims have had a positive impact and have created plenty of demand and, by extension, much new planting,” Kees explains.

H

e is also part of the Dutch Dried Fruit and Nut Trade Association (NZV) and cites the doubled global almond, cashew, walnut, and macadamia nut acreage, compared to 10-15 years ago, as an example. “It will be exciting to see how that develops because you can grow, production-wise, but you also have to market that volume.” Kees notes, though, that generating three to five percent consumer growth annually is doable. “Still, marketing a doubled crop is challenging,” he says.

COMPLICATED LOGISTICS Another market factor is the aftermath of logistics complications following, for instance, the blocked Suez channel in mid-2021, when the Ever Given container ship got stuck. “That led to even crazier freight rates that were already rising, which, in turn, kept traders from holding stock. Then, by the end of that year, due to rising demand and less market supply, little product was available.”

Kees adds that, in response to that situation, traders built up stocks in 2022.

“They expected the growing consumer demand from 2021 to continue into 2022.

But inflation struck, and where market growth had been anticipated, there was suddenly restraint. Consumers had to count their pennies and chose to heat their houses rather than buy nuts,” he says.

CRYSTALLIZED “In early 2023, there was talk of a declining demand and significant stocks. As the year progressed, though, that crystallized, and most stocks have run through the market. Europe had slight growth; but, that remained somewhat disappointing in the United States. Growth should normalize and resume in 2024.”

Blokland says demand affects market prices, which are on the low side. “Growers are very unhappy. Prices for, say, cashews are the lowest in 15 years. Producers face higher costs for things like

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Delicious taste and beautiful color www.zonneheerdt.nl

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zonneheerdt

growing, processing, packaging, and logistics. Dealing with these different dynamics makes for a challenging market,” he admits. Those lower prices, in turn, affect consumer demand, but, says the trader, it takes time before that is visible.

“For instance, China is a big macadamia buyer. There, people switch very quickly on price, and lower prices immediately impact demand. In Europe and the US, that takes time. Macadamia nut prices have dropped considerably since late 2022.

But that has only recently become evident on European supermarket shelves.

That‘s a six- to nine-month delay, but then consumer demand picks up right away.”

PRICE SETTING The trader calls retail price setting frustrating as well as challenging, saying that partly because of shelf size - nuts are a relatively minor product group - stores find other products more interesting, so they do not adjust margins to stimulate demand.

“We keep putting the various sectors and producer organizations‘ - including those from overseas - price formations on the agenda,” Kees points out, noting that nuts are faring well regarding aspects such as CO2 emissions and deforestation. Retailers should support that.

Sustainability is another aspect that affects price settings. According to Kees, you can meet all those needs and requirements relating to society, people, economy, and environment, but that comes at a price. “Assuming these all deserve attention, it does add to the price. Consumers are interested in such things, but as soon as they have to pay for it, they‘re put off.”

TRANSPARENT CHAIN Those are all reasons why Kees advocates a transparent chain, with an overview of each link‘s costs and assets, and that provides a revenue model for all. “That‘s something we want to move toward, where together we consider how to give each link a fair price with ultimately a shelf price that works,” he continues.

NZV Secretary Barbara Niemans adds a call to supermarkets: “Whether it‘s nuts, meat, fruit, vegetables or dairy, all prima-

ry producers hear about earnings. I invite supermarkets to talk to each other about that. Retail demands cannot be fulfilled at a pittance. A fair price must reflect the work that goes into those products.

There‘s room for improvement there.”

DIFFERENT MRLS She indicates that crop protection products are an area that poses a challenge.

“Europe cannot meet its nut demand; it depends on supply from third countries to meet that,” Barbara says, adding that MRL variations in the different producing countries complicate EU imports, which have stricter permitted limit require-

ments. She points to the US, the largest almond-growing country in the world, as an example. “They sometimes have different MRLs than in Europe, which occasionally causes friction. It could mean the EU can no longer import those nuts.” Both the NZV and the umbrella European body, FRUCOM, are calling attention to this in Brussels.

All that does nothing to alter the fact that Barbara and Kees are optimistic about the future of nuts. The key here is finding a balance between availability and price, Kees points out. “We‘re currently seeking that, and once we find it, we can return to the steady three to five percent growth.

That‘s already happening in the Middle and Far East, where the population and middle class are growing. Then luxury products enjoy increased attention,” Kees explains. He foresees excellent expansion opportunities in that part of the world. But the trader thinks a three to five percent growth is possible in the European and American markets, too. “We‘re getting demand from Africa as well.”

CONFIDENCE That is why Kees advises growers - with conservative prices and a realistic business model as a starting point - to plant.

He sees that both nuts‘ versatile usage and extensive scientific basis of their health benefits can help increase sales.

“We‘re very confident in this product,” he concludes.  www.nuts2.com www.zuidvruchten.nl

From a snack to be avoided to recommended daily allowance By now, there is no doubt that nuts can contribute to a healthy diet. Barbara Niemans points out that there is plenty of scientific evidence to back that up and sees it as one of the drivers behind the increasing demand. That, and the attention the product is getting in the Dutch Nutrition Centre‘s ‚Wheel of Five‘. “Nuts used

to be in the ‚snacks‘ box because of how much fat they contain,” she says.

“But those are good fats, which is why the Health Council drew attention to them in the new guidelines a few years ago. As a result, the Nutrition Center‘s new ‚Wheel of Five‘ includes the recommendation to eat a handful of

unsalted nuts daily. From a product you were warned against, because they were considered unhealthy, nuts have, in a few years, become a food that contributes to your health because of their healthy fats.”

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Spain

Looije Águilas has already achieved up to 29 kg/m2 cherry tomato production in its latest greenhouses.

Advice for Spanish greenhouse vegetable growers: Accept competition and keep doing what you do best In the Netherlands, once tomato greenhouses stand empty for the winter, aside from lit cultivation and fall crops, the gaze turns south.

In Spain, production often gets well underway in November. This year, in many cases, that is a little later than usual, due to crop choices in response to virus and climate events. However, some Spanish growers grow year-round.

L

ooije Águilas is one such grower.

This company turned 25 this year. In 1998, Jos and Vincent Looije went from the Netherlands to Spain to set up a winter crop under the Spanish sun. The tomato growers did that in addition to their regular Dutch non-lit cultivation at Looye Kwekers. It was a step towards year-round cultivation. Today, Jacqueline Looije steers this ship. She is the general director of the Looije Águilas cultivation

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company as well as of the growers‘ cooperative, O.P. Looije, founded in 2010.

The cooperative now has 15 growers, including Looije Águilas. Looije Águilas and O.P. Looije operate independently from Looye Kwekers and have their own sales. However, contact with the Netherlands remains, via family ties. “Because Jacqueline is director of the Spanish company, we’re getting noticeably closer,” sister Annelies told trade magazine Primeur

last year. “I regularly call her about cultivation matters; Margriet [the other sister, ed.] does that with the commercial manager in Spain.”

Looije Águilas celebrated its 25th anniversary in late October. “We had a fantastic time,” says Jacqueline. “That was with growers, customers, employees, suppliers, representatives from the Águilas municipality and the Murcia Autonomous Region, business relations, and family. Good relationships with all these parties have been the key to our success over the past 25 years. When we moved to Spain, we adapted to local conditions while using Dutch cultivation methods.”

Today, Looije Águilas has two farms. They recently added a new location in Águilas, where they built newer, taller green-

houses. “The sites aren‘t all that far apart, yet the climate is different,” Jacqueline explains when asked about what surprised her when she returned to Spain four years ago. “In the Netherlands, there’s often no awareness of how different Spanish regional microclimates can be.”

WARMER FALL Jan van der Blom agrees that the climate can vary considerably. This Dutchman has worked as an entomologist in Spain for 30 years, the last 20 with the Spanish producer organization Coexphal. “This fall is different again. We‘ve gotten somewhat used to that by now. August, September, and October were very warm.

That‘s hard on the early crops,” he says.

Technically, growers can do little about that.

“There‘s minimal cooling. You can chalk or open the windows. But, when it‘s very hot, growers can do relatively little. Chalked greenhouses are also very dark.” Recent falls have been warm, too.

And, again, early crops suffered. “The plants were exhausted by the time prices were really good in January. That‘s why, this year, growers planted their bell pepper and tomato crops a little later,” Jan explains.

Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) is beginning to affect Spanish tomatoes, too. Nobody likes talking about it, but from the field, you hear that the virus contributed to tomato growers starting their crops later. By doing so, they hope to avoid the warm periods, thinking the tomatoes are less susceptible. So, by mid-October, most bell pepper and tomato productions have yet to be released. Where there is already plenty of bell pepper production, it involves crops at slightly higher elevations, away from the coast.

“There, the night temperatures are lower, and the microclimate is different. You see a lot of bell peppers there.” Jan estimates there are about 1,500 hectares under production just inland. He does, however, not see crops increasingly moving away from the coast. “It has to be done for marketing mainly from December to April. Go higher up, and it‘s too cold for good productions. Growers at sea level will, thus, have to take measures,” he says.

Cucumbers, eggplants, and zucchini also suffered under the heat earlier in the fall.

Thus, many entered the market simultaneously. Temporary emergency mea-

sures were also declared in Spain. For a while, growers could, as has happened before, not sell Class II zucchini. “That was even temporarily considered for eggplant this season.” It remains a sore point on the Spanish market. Growers in lowtech greenhouses are often flexible and can, thus, after a good year, also get into what is then a successful crop the following year.

“The focus is often on last season‘s successes, which leads to too many growers having crops ready at the same time,” Jan notes. That is why, as winter approached, his employer, Coexphal, warned tomato sector growers about more tomatoes being grown under lights in northwestern Europe. In the Benelux, that is back to about half. “This year, very few tomatoes were on the market between January and March. However, there‘s no guarantee that it will be the same in early 2024.”

YEAR-ROUND CULTIVATION The Netherlands, where, in November, when there is a real switch to imports, usually turns to Spain. Jacqueline Looije, though, does not. As Looije Águilas and O.P. Looije‘s GM, she and her colleagues are committed to year-round cultivation.

With a mix of growers with longer and shorter crops in different types of greenhouses, the cooperative succeeds in marketing year-round tomatoes in Spain and abroad. The focus is on cherry, cherry plum, and mini-Kumato tomatoes. They market the latter primarily in Spain. “For me, there isn‘t a true start to the Spanish season like in the Netherlands. Still, volumes for certain customers rise in November,” she says.

Last winter, hardly any tomatoes were grown under lights in northwestern Europe. Spanish growers noticed that and their product was in high demand. Those shifts in the Northwest European market have not escaped Jacqueline‘s notice either. “Some countries now have Span-

ish produce, even in the summer, though I‘ve yet to see that in the Netherlands.”

Besides the energy crisis, she points to product availability as a reason. “We try to deliver consistent quality year-round.

You can do that in Spain,” explains Jacqueline. O.P. Looije has seen recent growth in the Spanish market. “We started supplying more Spanish supermarkets.” Looije Águilas is doing that with regular varieties. “We‘re researching ToBRFV-resistant varieties.” O.P. Looije‘s growers have already made the move to such varieties.

CHALLENGES The virus is one thing, but so are high labor and water costs. Spanish growers have been abandoning cherry tomato cultivation for some time because of high labor costs. Jacqueline, too, sees those costs climbing. “It‘s also increasingly difficult to find the right people,” she adds.

According to Jan, the smaller tomato varieties suffer the most from these increased costs. “Labor accounts for more than 50% of production costs here. After 2018, minimum wages rose 25% in two years, which led to tomato acreage shrinking from 11,000 hectares in 2018 to about 8,000 in 2022. There was some recovery this year, probably because winter supplies in Northwest Europe have lagged in the last two years,” he says.

The changing climate demands adjustments, too. In Spain, many conventional plastic greenhouse growers can do little, technique-wise. Water is plentiful, Jan points out. The situation in Almería is different from Huelva, where the government tightened restrictions considerably after important natural areas dried up.

Almería gets its water from other sources. “In Huelva, the water comes from rivers and reservoirs. In Almeriá, it flows from under the mountains, from the Sierra Nevada, where there’s little agriculture and few people. It‘s a slow, but constant stream.”

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Salinization is another challenge. “East of Almería, the water became too salty years ago, leaving tomatoes as the only crop to be grown. A plant that converts seawater into freshwater improved that situation, so now, all crops can be cultivated there again,” Jan continues. Some springs on the other side of Almería, around El Ejido, are also slowly beginning to salinate, but that, he says, can be solved. Again, desalination plants are already supplying a little of that water. “We‘re also working hard on optimizing water usage. Important here is to control it well, and especially not water too much. That could save a quarter of the water.”

Coexphal points this out to growers, just as it keeps insisting on greenhouse humidification during hot periods.

“We‘ve been advising that for a long time, yet it‘s still only done in half the greenhouses. We prefer growers to use a fogging system, but you can also simply wet the paths,” Jan states. That helps get biological control going in the greenhouse, too, as he knows from his background as an entomologist. Jan sees many positive developments in that.

“When it comes to sustainability, significant strides have been made. It used to be a matter of releasing bugs and then leaving things be. Now, people are considering the whole picture much more. Growers invest in banker plants and green spaces between the greenhouses. Organic or biodynamically certified growers started that, but conventional growers are also now doing it. Even though it remains a big sea of plastic, thanks to greenbelts, there‘s less pest pressure.”

Greenbelts and banker plants near Spanish greenhouses help keep pest pressure lower

petition. Jan calls it a “touchy subject.

They have almost the same crop calendar but much lower labor wages. Last year, Morocco was already more present in Europe, regarding tomato sales, than Almería. I expect that country to make further strides, including in other crops like bell peppers.” The best thing the Spanish sector can do, according to him, is ensure that Almería‘s cultivation becomes increasingly efficient.

accept that other countries can do some things more efficiently or cheaply, and do what you‘re good at.” Precisely that doing what you are good at - is what Jacqueline plans to do with Looije Águilas and O.P. Looije. “We want to grow the tastiest cherry tomatoes, 12 months a year,” she concludes. 

Also, growers must concentrate on their strengths. “Then they, too, will find their way, just like the Netherlands did when Spain joined the European Community.

Back then, many Dutch farmers considered throwing in the towel. But, you must just keep growing what‘s in demand,

TOUCHY SUBJECT Looije Águilas was early when it introduced Dutch cultivation methods 25 years ago. At its newest location, this cultivation company still has one plot free to build a greenhouse. “We have further expansion plans and are, thus, carefully considering sales and setting up the organization,” says Jacqueline. Looije Águilas moved to this new Spanish location because its first one was full. Wouldn‘t Morocco also be an option in time? “Not right away, but never say ‚never‘.” Morocco‘s cultivation is not yet year-round, but growers are getting closer. “We‘re happy with 25 years of cultivation in Spain, and our focus remains here for the next 25,” she stresses.

Spain, in general, is undoubtedly focused on Morocco, as evidenced by, for example, recurring protests about unfair com-

Jacqueline, Jos, An, Marie Isabel (Vincent’s wife) and Vincent during the celebration of 25 years of Looije Águilas

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Eighteen months after a devastating fire, Dutch pumpkin farm‘s new processing facility is up and running

“Convenience is a growth market, and orange pumpkins are perfect for that” The last two years have been a time of falling and getting back up for De Terp Pompoenen. In response to market demand, the Dutch company decided several years ago to invest heavily in processing its pumpkins. It invested in a processing facility, which, in early 2022, was all set to get started. Then disaster struck. A devastating fire burnt a home and four of the company‘s warehouses, including the one housing the processing space, down to the ground. Now, 18 months later, everything has been completely rebuilt, and the processing facility has been fully operational again since September. “That can be considered a milestone. After a blow like that, we can finally go full speed ahead again,” begins Rinke Robbers.

A

t the time, the fire brought the whole company to a standstill for a while, but not for long. Pretty, soon, they set their sights on moving forward again.

“Despite it being an awful experience, we

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never truly gave up. We patched up some machines and could very quickly continue normal sorting work at other locations. We also began rebuilding the entire complex right away. We reconstructed

the four warehouses, which had been razed, on their same foundation.”

“We just changed the functionalities a bit. We also tried putting extra effort into improving the whole complex process throughout. We decided to enlarge the processing space, too. When the fire broke out, we‘d not really gotten started.

We got off to a good start in September, so we decided to expand right away and set it up more spaciously,” says Rinke.

ORANGE, NOT MUSCAT PUMPKIN And with a fully operational processing space, the company can make progress in the convenience segment, where De Terp sees excellent potential. “Convenience has gained considerable popularity in recent years. Life is moving fast-

er and people have less time or desire to spend lots of time preparing the products they want to use. Orange pumpkin (Hokkaido) is a great product for this, where pre-processed has great value.”

“Cutting up a pumpkin is a big job. That‘s also why many convenience producers opt for muscat pumpkins or butternut squash. They have a higher processing

efficiency. But that‘s definitely at quality‘s expense. With our own processing, we wanted to start the turnaround towards greater use of orange pumpkins for processing. Muscat pumpkin is definitely not suited to fresh consumption,” Rinke explains.

“Orange pumpkins are far better suited to, say, oven dishes. Actually, for all kinds

of dishes because they‘re starchier and, thus, drier. It requires some extra effort, which is why we‘ve fully committed to this. The new processing facility also lets us add value to our Class II products, such as the slightly less pretty pumpkins or hefty oversized ones.” So, since October 1, the company has offered the pumpkins as half-peeled varieties or 10 or 20-mm cubes.

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cialties like gray pumpkins and spaghetti squash in the fall. With pumpkin season traditionally starting in September, the company could respond immediately to the increasing market demand. “Pumpkins remain a seasonal product. Our yield is generally fantastic again, and consumption peaks from September to April.

It slowly declines in the summer. We keep going year-round, but there‘s a definite difference in sales,” says Robbers.

SEASONAL PRODUCT For De Terp Pompoenen, that comes not a moment too soon. Besides organic orange pumpkins and butternut, they offer spe-

According to him, that is true of the convenience market, too. “Convenience is a developing market, and it’s for good reason that we‘re betting on it. Yet even convenience products cannot convince people to choose pumpkins more in the summer months. However, since the pandemic, people have genuinely discovered the pumpkin. Certainly, in the fresh produce segment, we‘ve had the biggest growth recently. That‘s fairly stable now.

The chilled segment, though, is still growing. With the orange varieties, we hope to boost that even more, so we can benefit from that growth.”

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to find a solution, but there wasn‘t one until recently,” he explains.

ing facility, the company invested in a new, fully automated harvester, too. It is the first in Europe and, says Rinke, has proved a true godsend. “We chose this purely for labor reasons. Cost saving is a nice additional benefit, but there are simply no more people to be found who want to do the work. They leave as soon as they hear it‘s almost harvest time. It‘s back-breaking work that fewer and fewer people are willing to do. Also, many are no longer used to it or can get significantly less labor-intensive jobs. So, we had

It was hard to develop a machine that can harvest pumpkins without damaging them. “That is, until a variety was found that the machine could break off at the correct place on the stem. Not directly at the flesh but halfway down the stem. It can, thus, pick the crop fully automatically. So besides efficiency, it has proved to be a genuine solution to the staffing issue. For now, however, we can only use it for that particular variety.

That‘s also why breeders must focus on this variety and develop it further.”

The harvester provides the company with much-needed relief in a time that is more than challenging enough. “Even in pumpkin cultivation, which is, after all, a fairly easy crop to grow, weather

extremes bring many challenges. There‘s plenty of precipitation,” Rinke explains, “and we unexpectedly experienced tropical weather in September. That causes considerable plant stress and rapid ripening. The advantage then is that we, in the organic segment, are relatively used to ensuring we do good crop rotation.”

“And we have healthy, resilient soil that can resist extremes. We, for example, haven‘t plowed for several years, and in the winter, we use green manure to keep the soil green. We also keep the water balance in order. You are, especially in organic cultivation, dependent on Mother Nature, but in this way, we can arm ourselves. These challenges are only growing in size and must be kept in check.

However, I think the last few years have taught us that we‘re resilient enough to cope well with adversity,” concludes Rinke. 

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Investing with a difference Anders Invest‘s Food & Agri Fund entered the fruit and vegetable sector this year. It did so by acquiring stakes in companies like Service2Fruit and Eosta. This Dutch company’s fund name shows it is taking a very different approach from other private equity parties in the market. “We‘re not focused on exits; we‘re an evergreen fund.

That ensures we can calmly build a company and add long-term value,” begins Jurjen van der Werf, Investment Manager of the Food & Agri Fund.

What is Anders Invest‘s background?

“Anders Invest was founded eight years ago by six partners with a joint vision to invest differently. They shared the values of reciprocity, sustainability, and transparency. Since its founding in 2014, four investment funds have been set up with, by now, a total volume of nearly €500 million. They started with an industry fund, making long-term investments in mainly Dutch manufacturing sector SMEs. Two real estate funds were added between 2017 and 2019 for healthcare and commercial rental housing. The Food & Agri fund was launched in 2021, which is where I came to work.”

What differentiates Anders Invest?

“We‘re long-term investors. Private equity-type parties usually work very much toward an exit. Often, such a fund has a maximum seven to 10-year term. We‘re not focused on exits and keep companies in our portfolio as long as possible, which can be 10 or 20 years. We invest in established relationships and long-term, sustainable operations. That‘s very much in line with what our investors want.

We don‘t raise money from institutional investors.”

“Over 450 entrepreneurial investors, family offices, and fund management provide the needed capital. That long-term investment is a key driver of our success.

We believe that if you want to fundamentally add value, you need a long-term view. Especially in our industry fund, the companies where we get on board are often family businesses, that think generationally rather than a period of a few years. So, if things are tough for a while, we don‘t cut corners or push for bankruptcy; instead, we put all our efforts into getting things back on track.”

What about the fund‘s returns?

“Our returns are appropriate for longterm investing. If investors stay, they don‘t make an immediate return on investment; they get a dividend return, including a share value increase. You can transfer those shares to other investors, and the fund‘s shares‘ value grows.

That‘s how our industry fund achieves above-average returns. Also, we want companies to have an impact as well as financial returns.”

How do you manage that?

“When we onboard companies, we formulate fiscal, operational, and impact objectives. We use the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as set out by the United Nations. Along with our management team, we devise a plan to make an impact return around a theme close to our hearts. That could be, for instance, sustainable packaging, employee welfare, or making the production process more sustainable. We present that plan to the shareholders. At the end of the year, an independent committee checks whether the objectives have been met and if there were consequences. If only half of the targets are met, the fund bonus is also halved, and the remaining amount is reinvested in another impact target. This way, we negate the risk of greenwashing and try to make a real impact.”

Which food and agribusinesses interest you?

“That sector faces serious challenges in the coming years that will require a transition in many areas to achieve more sustainable, fairer, healthier produced food. Think of themes around protein transition and regenerative agriculture. We invest in companies that are already transitioning or have the potential to do so. Our investment strategy is

from farm-to-fork, and we‘re in basically the whole chain, except at the very beginning and end. We, thus, won‘t be acquiring land positions any time soon, nor do we invest in the retail side, but everything in between interests us. In the agrifood sector, farmers and growers are under tremendous pressure because of their footprint. Our investment means we‘re betting on a more efficient and sustainable food production method, which offers a bright future for primary producers, too.”

How does such an acquisition come about; who initiates it?

“In our market, you often deal with brokers. They have many contacts within companies, and when those companies come up for sale, they contact investors.

We sometimes participate in that, but we prefer a different way of working. If a company is interested in selling, we believe they should deliberately choose Anders Invest. That‘s why, by far, most investments come from within own network. We prefer taking a majority in a company, but it does happen that we start with a minority, and our share increases over time.”

How involved are you as investors?

“We‘re not people who visit once a year to hear the results. We‘re very hands-on and closely involved with strategies. In practice, we visit companies two to four times a month and are MTs and directors‘ sounding boards.”

With Eosta, Prograin Organic, Organic Flavour Company, and Horizon, your portfolio includes many organic companies. Isn‘t that sector struggling?

“It‘s true that, in times of economic uncertainty, people switch back to cheaper con-

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expect this negative shock will normalize again. Plus, most food is currently not produced in a future-proof way, regarding soil quality and the climate. Organic isn‘t the holy grail, but it is a solution.

That said, we‘re not an organic fund and also invest in conventional companies with nice business models and potential for sustainability.”

Group photo during signing acquisition Service2Fruit

ventional products. However, we believe this is only a temporary setback. We consider the organic market a growth one,

driven by increased consumer awareness around healthy, sustainable eating. We‘re thus optimistic about the longer term and

How did you end up at Service2Fruit?

“The online trading platform Service2Fruit is disrupting the market by offering complete transparency where supply and demand freely influence each other, thus creating a correct buyer and seller price. That sets it apart in a very non-transparent market. It’s genuinely amazing how fragmented top fruit trading is with things like brokers visiting growers and making unclear price agreements.”

“Those often leave the grower at the bottom, earning the least from their fruit sales. Service2Fruit has created trans-

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parency in the chain and is a market leader. The platform often, for example, sets Conference pear prices and frequently realizes the highest grower price. We see great possibilities around scaling up to other product-market combinations; these problems aren‘t top fruit specific. That‘s why we‘re fully discussing with other parties to see which product groups need a new trading method.”

Are you purely focused on the Dutch market?

“Certainly not. We‘ve invested in Prograin Group, a Moldavian company that sources, processes, and sells organic seeds, grains, and legumes. Sourcing these products is done at two locations in Moldova, Floresti and Giurgiulesti. They’re processed and prepared for sale and transported mainly to Western Europe. The company’s head office is in the capital city of Chisinau. Founded in 2015 by the current CEO, Spartac Chilat, the company has, in cooperation with regional growers, transitioned over 6,000 hectares from conven-

tional to organic farming. The goal is to grow the organic arsenal by 20% annually for the next decade. It takes three years to transition from conventional to organic farming, so it‘s capital-intensive.”

“Earlier this year, we acquired a majority stake in Gebana Brasil, too. This company produces and processes organic, non-GMO soy, grains, and seeds. With this investment, we should further build a position in South America. We can then pursue other investment opportunities in that region. We‘re building a diversified portfolio that includes soy, grains, nuts, tropical fruits, potatoes, fruit and vegetables. Climate change and volatile yields mean diversification is a must.”

business to someone and regretting it after a few years because, say, the company‘s staff was slashed. Don‘t just think about the money; think about what you want to leave behind and why.”  jvanderwerf@andersinvest.nl

What would you say to companies that are open to being sold?

“Feel free to call us. And, aside from the price you want, also closely consider the type of investor you want on board. Unfortunately, there are too many instances of entrepreneurs selling their

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Spain

Paco Gomez, from Agroejido

“We see that British customers wish to resume the business lines they previously had in Almeria” The greenhouse vegetable campaign in Almeria started with some delay compared to previous years, as producers were trying to avoid the impact of the excessive heat in the autumn and of pests, following the problems reported at the beginning of last season. This delay led to a reduction of the supply during October and, after the drop in night temperatures, also during November, which resulted in good prices at origin.

O

fficial export figures from the Andalusian Regional Government confirm this reduction in the volumes offered. In the first two official months of the campaign, September and October, tomato exports fell by 26% in terms of volume compared to the previous campaign, while peppers dropped by 10%, cucumbers by 7% and cucumbers by 4%. However, it should also be highlighted that eggplant exports recorded a 19% growth during those two months compared to the previous campaign, as the crop’s acreage is expected to have

expanded this campaign, since it is “more resistant to pests and less demanding in terms of labor.”

In the last weeks of December, the pepper production was finally in full swing in the El Ejido area and throughout Almeria’s Poniente region, as reported by Paco Gomez, president of Agroejido. “It‘s happened a little later than other years, and we estimate that the campaign could last until the end of March/beginning of April, although everything will depend on the weather and pests. The Thrips parvisp-

inus is doing a lot of damage and could cause some producers to lose profitability, which would motivate them to harvest early to be able to plant spring crops.”

“However, despite this, we expect a slight drop in the volume of early watermelon due to this delay in the pepper campaign.

A delay is also expected in the greenhouse melon campaign, although melon is a crop with its own problems, and in recent campaigns, it has been yielding little profitability, so producers are more often opting for watermelon as a spring crop. The Galia, in particular, is increasingly less cultivated”, says Paco.

According to the Prices and Markets Observatory of the Andalusian Regional Government, the decrease in the production of this melon variety in Almeria is a consequence of the “strong competition from overseas producers and Morocco.”

In the 2022/23 campaign, in fact, large European retailers extended their contracts with overseas suppliers “beyond AGF Primeur • Fruit Logistica edition 2024

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the usual dates, to the detriment of purchases from Almeria.”

The initial campaign estimates from the Andalusian Regional Government point to a reduction in the pepper acreage and an expansion of tomatoes, “especially grafted tomatoes.” The acreage devoted to eggplant and zucchini should also increase, with a greater orientation “towards yellow mosaic virus-resistant varieties.”

According to Paco, not only are there still issues with yellow mosaic virus in zuc-

chini, but “a number of viruses that had already been eliminated, such as potyvirus, have started to appear again because, apparently, the new varieties resistant to the New Delhi virus have lost resistance to them. Zucchini is suffering these problems; a bit less now in winter, but in the fall and spring it has been difficult to keep the plantations running smoothly.”

“The rugose fruit virus in tomatoes is also wreaking havoc in the southeast area of the province,” says Paco. But, let‘s remember, not only there.

This fall, Morocco reported to the EPPO Secretariat that during the 2022/2023 campaign, about ten outbreaks of ToBRFV in tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) grown in greenhouses have been confirmed. The sources of the outbreaks of this virus, which was first detected in October 2021 in the Souss-Massa region and in March 2022 in the Dakhla region, would be “infected imported seeds.”

And although it is difficult to accurately measure the impact that the rugose fruit virus has had on the Moroccan industry, it is estimated that between 15 and 20%

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of the production could have been lost.

Producers are not only dealing with lower yields and higher costs in disease management in their plantations, but they could also be facing a drop in the demand and difficulties in international markets due to restrictions imposed on infected tomatoes. One of their most important international markets, especially for

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tomatoes, is the United Kingdom, so the question is whether this factor will affect exports.

For now, Almeria is not having any problems in this regard, says Paco Gomez. “At Agroejido, we have so far been recording the demand we had forecast. Europe is fundamental for us. Germany, the Neth-

erlands or France, but also Eastern countries, like Poland, have a strong demand for Almeria vegetables. The United Kingdom has never been a key market for our company, but the truth is that we have been getting more calls from there this season. We see, in some way, that British customers wish to resume the business lines they previously had in Almeria.” 

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UK

In days gone by the buyers understood the challenges and seasonality of fresh produce production, these days it’s all about getting produce at the cheapest possible price In 2023 the UK saw empty supermarket shelves, this was mainly down to the weather both in the UK and in Europe, but also due to retailers refusing to pay higher prices for imported produce. We can’t do much about the weather and as much as some people like to make the retailers the villains in the story (and rightly so at times) the problem in the UK is much more fundamental.

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ly stated that the practice of farmers subsidising consumers’ appetite for cheap food cannot continue.

“In some categories (mainly produce), the way that retailers and their growers / suppliers do business has fundamentally changed. The model has changed from a trading model, based on short, often weekly prices, based on supply and demand, to long-term fixed price contracts,” states Futter.

“At its worst I have seen a retailer / grower fixed contract that was across several seasons and yet when there was a bumper crop but significant inflationary pres-

sures the retailer refused to accept any increase, citing the terms of the agreement. The fixed price agreements that UK retailers use widely across the produce sector ignore the simple fact that almost every product is different with some crops picked daily with shelf life instore of days, others are picked over 6–8- week periods and then stored for months. With some of the retailers these fixed prices are agreed well before the crop is ready, but some retailers hold off agreeing a price until the crop is being picked, ignoring the fact that cash is required by growers and farmers especially to pay the pickers. The timing that prices are agreed adds further risk to the growers / farmers and is designed by the retailer to increase the pressure and use jeopardy to keep prices low.”

NO SHORTAGE IN EUROPE This behaviour by the retailers was brought to the fore again in 2023 when we saw empty shelves in March, but this could have been avoided as there was prior warning that glasshouse growers would not plant salad crops during the winter due the spike in gas prices and no guarantee of higher prices from the buyers.

Futter quotes Clive Black, Director and Head of Research at Shore Capital in his report: ‘The more pertinent question is why the UK is short of produce compared to continental Europe. The supermarkets are well stocked there. It comes down to basic economics. The UK is not very attractive now to salad and vegetable suppliers around Europe’.

“The answer, as I consistently heard, was that the UK was not prepared to pay soaring prices when availability was short,

and Europe was. Add to this the difficulties dealing with UK retailers and Brexit paperwork, and it was an easy choice to divert products to European retailers,” states Futter.

The report goes on to highlight the risk vs reward imbalance, the growers take all the risk for less and less reward. It also highlights the change in buyers for the retailers, in days gone by the buyers understood the challenges and seasonality of fresh produce production, these days it’s all about getting produce at the cheapest possible price.

Another issue is the understanding, or lack of, of the British public in the cost of production as they have been getting cheap vegetables for years. Jack Ward, Chairman of the British growers Association said while talking about the 2023 season: “This is a difficult season on top of previous difficult seasons, with increas-

ing costs, and if growers are putting in their all and not seeing the returns, it can really erode grower confidence. Cauliflower in 2015 was £1, they are now selling at £0.95p in one major retailer, this is reflected in the comparisons for other vegetables. There is just not enough money in the systems to reward everyone, including the retailers.”

In the week before Christmasone one major retailer was offering ‘The Festive Four’ for just £0.15, another for just £0.19, how can our growers produce vegetables for this price? The answer is that they can’t and discounted vegetables give the impression to consumers that they are very cheap to produce or that it’s the supermarkets which are taking the hit on the price reduction. It also adds to food waste as people buy more than they can use because it is cheap.

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UK SOFT FRUIT Although the UK strawberry season saw good volumes in 2023 there were significant shortages into the autumn. According to Nicholas Marston, Chairman of British Berry Growers this was down to contracted seasons in both the UK and The Netherlands and low returns from retailers.

“Due to high energy costs growers didn’t plant for the very early season or late season production, also the British retailers work on a system which is no longer fit for purpose. They cannot adapt to shortages on the market or increases in cost.

They are fixed on a low-price system and price-matching with discounters and don’t take into consideration seasonal availability of fresh produce.”

Nick said that while he appreciates that consumers are feeling the squeeze at the cost-of-living increase, UK retailers are far too strict when looking at what they pay for produce, while retailers in Europe are far more reactive to the market circumstances.

“The UK retailers are not sitting down with growers and asking what they need.

The average retail price for a 400g pack of strawberries has gone up by £0.23 in the last two years, but the price paid to growers has only increased by £0.04, while the average cost for growers to produce that 400g of berries has increased by £0.18.

This year growers will face a further increase in costs as the living wage goes up again. We have already seen growers drop out over the last few years as they are not making any profit and this will continue if things don’t change.”

Berry growers face longer production cycles than, for example vegetable grow-

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ers, and so can’t just decide at the start of the season not to plant the crop.

REDUCTION IN ACREAGE “We can already see that the acreage of raspberries has contracted in last couple of years, the main reason is that they are more labour intensive and with the increase in labour costs it no longer profitable. Also orders for the main June bearing strawberry plants has now gone down for 2024 as growers cut back production.”

There has been a lot talk about the very challenging weather conditions in 2023 and while it was extremely challenging for vegetable growers, the soft fruit production is largely protected by poly tunnels or glasshouses.

“The UK has world leading table top production capability as well as cutting edge tech in the glasshouses. The challenge that we do face is in obtaining planning permission for new structures. In Holland and Belgium, it seems to be much better supported by government.”

EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES “The UK soft fruit industry has always been very focussed on the domestic market, with 98% of production by value sold to UK multiple retailers, but I see great opportunities for export. Countries such as Germany still grow the majority of their strawberries in open ground getting low yields while now incurring high labour costs. UK growers do face the challenge of having to have physical plant heath inspections done before any export can take place, these also have to be planned 48 hours in advance, this is very cumbersome when you are just starting to export. We are asking the government to make changes to the process

to make it simpler and quicker, as it is in mainland Europe.”

If growers can open export markets it may also give them more power when talking to retailers, as they will then have options.

“We are now at the stage where our strengths must be used constructively, retailers won’t be able to get the volume of fruit they need from elsewhere as costs for European growers are also increasing and they just couldn’t produce the volumes to supply the UK market.

Most European exporters don’t see the UK as a good prospect due the low prices.”

Opening export markets could be a real boost for UK growers with the potential to increase production by 50% in years to come. 

Morocco

The Moroccan early vegetable industry amid fears of the ToBRFV and export bans Moroccan early vegetable growers are emerging from a difficult production period this summer, marked by extreme weather conditions, phytosanitary problems, and complications with seed supplies. The “crisis” has taken on significant proportions, leading to the loss of massive areas of several crops, and delaying the launch of the Moroccan early vegetables campaign by around a month. With Amine Amanatoullah, CEO the growing and exporting company FastExpo, we zoom deeper into the Moroccan vegetable season and see what impact this difficult summer has had on exporters and consumers alike.

A

manatoullah says, “We went through a difficult period in July and August, and suffered heavy damage to the plantations, followed by a seed shortage. The climate has not been normal at all. Following the historic peak of 50 degrees Celsius reached in Souss Massa, we lost 25 to

30% of volumes across all crops, not to mention the persistent drought, which is a real problem. But all these problems are not as consequential as the ToBRFV virus, which remains an unsolved issue. All the other climatic and logistical factors are surmountable,

Amine Amanatoullah, CEO the growing and exporting company FastExpo

but they foster the spread of the virus, which is an incurable problem until now.

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losses attributed to the virus can reach 40% over the whole season. Even growers who were spared by the heat wave are ultimately suffering the same levels of losses due to the virus.

The summer 2023 episode was preceded by another blow to exporters, which was the export restrictions on several vegetables imposed in March to protect the local market. The restrictions include a significant reduction in tomato volumes exported to Europe, as well as a netblock on exports of several vegetables to West Africa. The blow was so severe - from a grower‘s point of view - that growers‘ associations warned that the industry could be jeopardized. The government responded by introducing subsidies for growers.

Amanatoullah comments, “Alongside the virus, export restrictions were a concern that shaped growers‘ decisions. Sub-

sidies were certainly welcomed as good news, but caution prevailed and vegetable acreage did not increase. Growers are still awaiting the introduction of resistant seeds, and fear the repetition of export restrictions. The most casualty across vegetables were round tomatoes, peppers, and zucchinis cultivated in open fields.

Diversification of varieties and products, and control of cultivated areas, are the parameters of this decision-making, and a general trend can be identified. Amanatoullah explains, “In tomatoes, exporters‘ choices are tending towards a transition from round tomatoes to segmentation tomatoes, which are more resistant to ToBRFV, even though Morocco is more competitive than Spain in round tomatoes. There is also a transition to peppers and cucumbers, which are more resistant than tomatoes, but without any increase in acreage either. All in all, avoiding pro-

duction risks is the biggest concern at a time when technical concerns take precedence over commercial ones.”

Could diversifying production locations be a plausible solution? “It‘s very difficult,” replies Amanatoullah. “The Souss Massa region remains irreplaceable.

With temperatures between 17 and 27 degrees, it‘s a region similar to Almeria in Spain. In other regions, such as Gharb further north, the minimum temperatures are too low and there‘s a problem of frost. The Dakhla region in the south has a favorable climate, but transport takes 2 to 3 days longer, which is a drawback in terms of cost-efficiency, not to mention phytosanitary problems. The development of infrastructure in the Dakhla region, which is currently underway, will transform it into a major production region, but will require special markets such as African countries or the local market.”

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In this new configuration, where drought, heatwaves, and viruses are interdependent factors, the future of growers and exporters lies in the hands of seed providers. This was clearly demonstrated in the summer of 2023 when it took several weeks to replace tomato and bell pepper plantations scorched by heatwaves in Souss Massa. In addition to regular supplies, growers are still waiting for ToBRFV-resistant seeds. Amantou Allah comments, “The seed companies have the solution, and we understand that they are currently carrying out research.

Many ToBRFV-resistant seeds have been announced, but are not yet conclusive in terms of production. We also understand that seed companies have commercial constraints that discourage them from holding large stocks in Morocco, which leads to shortages. It is therefore necessary to move quickly towards regular, uninterrupted, supply of truly resistant seeds.”

On the commercial front, the Moroccan campaign is also reshaped and has seen new changes in recent years. The Moroccan origin is asserting itself on European markets and winning out over the competition. But exporters have to adapt to production constraints, to the delay in launching this year‘s campaign, and to the export mode, which is not always to their advantage.

Amanatoullah elaborates, “Marketing and valorization of the Moroccan product remains a challenge. Moroccan exporters find themselves selling in Europe at a deficit at certain times of the year, while their Spanish counterparts are protected. Preventing commercial risks is also becoming almost impossible, given that the climate in Europe, and therefore the European supply and demand,

is unpredictable. Seasons are no longer clear-cut, making it difficult to forecast demand and prices. However, exporters are aware of this limitation, and progress is being made in this direction: we are seeing more exports under contract to retail or wholesale customers, which offers exporters more guarantees, to the detriment of open-price and commission-based exports. Exporting on commission encourages speculation and selling at a loss, is an unviable mode of trade for Moroccan exporters, and still exists only thanks to the entry into the business of new, unwary players. Fortunately, with the development of Moroccan origin, this mode of export is disappearing and now represents 30% of vegetable volumes, compared with 60% just a few years ago.”

The position of Moroccan vegetable exporters in the European market has improved considerably in recent years, revealing a lack of alternatives for European importers. “We remain very competitive with Spain on price, even though Spain has the same problems of drought and the spread of the virus. Other alternative origins, like Egypt, have a quality problem as well as a geographical disadvantage, or like Turkey, are focusing on other markets like Russia. The European market‘s dependence on Moroccan production increases when winter arrives and the European supply runs out, and the alternatives in early vegetables simply don‘t exist.”

On a commercial level, therefore, favorable winds are blowing for Moroccan origin, but that‘s not everything, adds Amanatoullah. “In addition to objective factors such as geographical proximity and price competitiveness, Moroccan producers and exporters are making a

big deal of effort to achieve excellence in quality, regularity of supply, and operational integration. We‘re moving towards year-round production, with off-soil and off-cycle crops. But again, this remains conditional on the availability of robust seeds. In terms of logistics, the major exporters have also made significant investments in Europe to set up reception and distribution platforms, enabling them to manage and redirect rejects, and better control quality and complaints,

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fective and counter-productive since vegetable prices have not fallen in the local market. We have suffered all the disadvantages of the export ban without seeing its benefits on the local market.”

which is in itself a great advantage for European customers and especially supermarkets.”

The local Moroccan market remains an important element in the equation, and shuffled the growers‘ cards last season, which is not to be ruled out this year.

Amanatoullah says, “The local Moroccan

market is becoming a competing market for exporters. Purchasing power in Morocco is increasing, and at certain times of the season, gaps intended for the local market are sold at the same price as exported produce. This has prompted the government to impose restrictions on exports, which has greatly disrupted the trade. We insist that this measure is inef-

Moroccan producers and exporters have spoken out against the export ban and restrictions, calling it an ineffective measure and even a threat to Moroccan agribusiness. Amanatoullah argues, “The export ban nullifies considerable efforts and puts the credibility of Moroccan exporters into question. What‘s more, the ban on exports was seen as a humiliation in several countries, when the produce suddenly failed to reach consumers in West Africa and Europe, while they were relying on Moroccan supply.

This encouraged local producers in several West African countries, for example, who now want to replace the Moroccan supply. In the long term, this could mean the emergence of new competitors for Morocco in North and West Africa.”  fastexpo2015@gmail.com

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