Cooperatives will play an important role in the future of the European fresh produce farming sector, according to Gert van Dijk, president of agri-cooperative body Cogeca.
Mr Van Dijk, speaking at a meeting with CEOs of cooperatives in the sector, said that they would continue to develop and implement innovative strategies to actively defend the interests of farmers, covering market concentration, segmentation, diversification and branding.
Additionally, he emphasised the important role that cooperatives played in aiming to rebalance the power in the food chain to meet the needs of customers.
Meanwhile, European farmers' protests are set to go on as producer prices continue to fall, while production costs remain on an upwards curve.
That was the verdict of Jean Michel Lemétayer, president of European farmers’ group Copa, who drew attention to the increasingly volatile European food market.
“If nothing is done, the protests we have already seen in countries such as Greece, Bulgaria and other Baltic countries are almost certain to widen,” said Mr Lemétayer.
To combat this, along with ensuring food security and high quality produce in Europe, Copa and Cogeca called for new measures to be implemented to prevent extreme market fluctuations.
