The first day of the 18th International Congress of Fruit and Vegetable Producers' Organizations, ICOP, was held last week in Vilamoura, Portugal. Throughout the week, a panel of international speakers discussed the current market situation, the challenges that the sector is facing (with special emphasis on climate change and the need for efficient water management), the latest trends and innovations, as well as agricultural policies and the strategic plans for the CAP 2023-2027.
"The Magnificent 7
After a welcome speech by Gonçalo Andrade from Portugal Fresh and Wolfgang Braunstein from gfa-consulting (Austria), in which the Portuguese Minister of Agriculture José Manuel Fernandes also took part, Cindy Van Rijswick, from RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness (Netherlands) kicked off the round of presentations with "The Magnificent 7".
Under the title of this classic western, Cindy outlined the 7 factors that can have the greatest impact on the fruit and vegetable sector today: the end of abundance, the shortage of workers, the importance of technology, the risks associated with the climate, the uncertainty generated by the new world order, the consumption of the new generations and the power that producers are gaining within the chain. One of Cindy Van Rijswick's conclusions was that Europe has a robust fruit and vegetable market, but all these challenges are forcing it to "change rather than grow" and now "is the time to make those changes."
Between 70 and 90% of Belgium's fruit and vegetables are marketed through retailers
Marteen de Moor, from LAVA cvba (Belgium), talked about the history and the key role played by FVPOs in Belgium; "a small country, but with a great history of cooperativism," as the first producer organization was created in 1905. These organizations keep a really close relationship with the retail sector, as between 70 and 90% of the fruit and vegetables grown in Belgium by various FVPOs are marketed via the retail channel, which has historically had a strong presence in the country.
Growth and local produce for Portuguese retailers
In Portugal, two of the most important supermarket chains are Auchan and the Spanish retailer Mercadona. Nuno Passadinhas from Auchan and Pedro Barraco from Mercadona Portugal talked about the strategies and growth of their respective chains.
Auchan Portugal, which has been long present in the country since the opening of its first store in 1970, has undergone a huge expansion, boosted in 2024 with the takeover of Grupo Día's operations in Portugal, reaching a total of 580 physical stores in the country.
For its part, Mercadona arrived in Portugal in 2016 and already has 58 stores following what the chain has called its "massive transformation", based on quality, the use of its own private label as a recognizable and reliable brand, and a solid product range.
This model, which in Spain has already allowed Mercadona to lead the retail market, with a share of more than 26%, is the one that the group is implementing in Portugal, where its commitment to local produce and fruit and vegetable suppliers will become increasingly important, as well as more cross-border in nature. Pedro Barraco said that as part of its commitment to Portuguese growers, the group will increase its purchases of Portuguese fruit and vegetables such as kiwifruit, Rocha pears and apples to supply Spanish supermarkets.
It is also planning an investment of 5,000 million Euro to continue its expansion in the 2024-2028 period.
Fabienne Legrand, from AOP Cenaldi (France); Kristine Bori, from DG AGRI (European Commission), and Karine Oswald-Poulet, from IDfel Val de Loire (France).
"We need storytelling"
Teresa Carvalho closed the afternoon's presentations talking about innovations and trends in agri-food consumption in 2024, including what she called the "mushroom revolution" and the growing importance of protein among younger consumer groups.
The fruit and vegetable sector is already adapting to many emerging and rapidly changing challenges and trends. At the end of the day, Wolfgang Braunstein concluded that the sector needs to communicate all that it is doing and offering to consumers. In his words, "we need storytelling."