Fresh produce trends highlight need for balance

Broader sustainability and product differentiation are two key themes that are set to dominate the fresh produce landscape this year.

In its 2023 trends report, Fruit Logistica said worker welfare was a prevalent theme, with supermarkets leading the charge for fairer wages. However, it added that the questions of what constituted fair prices for fruit and vegetables, and fair wages for those who produced it, were strongly debated.

Franka Rodriguez, director of global sourcing at retail group Aldi South, noted in the report that for years, European retailers had pursued an aggressive low-cost pricing strategy for bananas.

“The balancing act is being able to offer our consumers attractive prices while still paying [producers] fair wages,” she said.

She added that through greater business efficiencies, cost reductions in the retail price of bananas could be achieved. “We focus on the essentials, and therefore offer a smaller range of products. We also internationalise the buying process in our fresh produce categories, which creates bundling effects and economies of scale that we can ultimately pass on to our consumers.”

Another point of contention was packaging, which was increasingly coming under fire from legislation, with each European country having different criteria, the report said.

Philippe Binard, general delegate at Freshfel Europe, said in the report that packaging was an area where economic and environmental sustainability seemed to contradict each other.

“If each country sets its own rules, targets and labels to demonstrate that they are compliant with recycling requirements, that’s a big issue.

“This will inevitably push up costs since producers would need to manage stock for different markets, without always knowing its final destination.”

He noted that since packaging was not only a means of transporting a product, but also a means to avoid food waste, secure food safety, avoid contamination, and maintain quality, there would be a very significant impact if produce were to be sold loose. “It will change purchasing habits completely and be detrimental for the sector. We need one legislation for one Europe, and policies have to be coherent.”

ClemenGold marketing manager Adéle Ackerman said product differentiation was more important than ever for maintaining market share.

The ClemenGold brand had achieved much success with citrus branding, and Ackerman believed there was more scope for expansion into the Asian market in particular.

“‘New Asia’ has emerged in terms of branding fresh fruit, despite traditionally being a market of brandless, massproduced commodities. China is a unique market where there is an opportunity for brand building.

“On the other hand, the need in Europe is to put something on the shelf that drives value. The economic pressures in the European retail market drive the pricing down somewhat, but the pressure to differentiate in quality and price leaves an opportunity in that market for strong brands with strong strategies,” she said in the report.