Fresh fruit and vegetable exports from the Netherlands increased by 8 per cent year-on-year during the first eight months of 2010, according to new figures published by Productschap Tuinbouw and reported by Tomatoes Today.
The data showed that, from the beginning of January to the end of August this year, the volume of Dutch fresh produce volumes sold on foreign markets increased from 1.48m tonnes to 1.6m tonnes.
Exports to Germany, the country's biggest market for fruit and vegetables, were up 6.2 per cent during the eight-month period compared with January-August 2009, while notable increases were also recorded in the UK (+7.5 per cent), France (+18.8 per cent) and Spain (+14.5 per cent).
However, exports to the Czech Republic and Belgium were down on the previous year, by 9.7 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.
Productschap Tuinbouw revealed that the Netherlands exported 3 per cent more cucumbers to Germany and the UK during the first eight months of this year, while shipments to France fell by 7 per cent and exports to the Czech Republic 'almost halved'.
