During the last few months, the fresh produce trade has trudged its way through a strange old mixture of trade fairs, world travel and financial tribulations. Having taken time over the summer to make a little hay and recuperate following the twin shocks of the E coli crisis and the collapse of Israeli exporter Agrexco, Europe’s autumn months have carried with them the traditional rush of industry events – Asia Fruit Logistica, Asiafruit Congress, World Food Moscow, Eurofruit Congress Middle East, wop Dubai, Macfrut, PMA Fresh Summit, Fruit Attraction and, just a couple of weeks into November, the Eurofruit Congress Southern Hemisphere in Peru – as well as the stark realisation that the UK market has become more and more like Germany in terms of its focus on low prices.
As December approaches and our daylight hours become shorter, the shimmering oasis that is Christmas offers the prospect, I hope, of a well-earned breather. After that, a fresh start and a redoubling of efforts to increase consumption, fight the economic decline and develop better ways of marketing what are the best products on the supermarket shelf.
It’s been a pleasure to cover the trade over the past year and I hope you have all been pleased with Eurofruit’s new design and our forays into other formats like our iPad edition and podcast. As ever, we will return in the new year with our January issue’s comprehensive preview of Fruit Logistica 2012. In the meantime, a very Merry Christmas to you all.
Comment taken from the November/December issue of Eurofruit Magazine
