A story on Freshplaza this week highlighted the huge quantities of Belgian topfruit that had been left to rot on fields in Limburg, in northeast Belgium, as Europe continues to struggle with oversupply due to the closure of the Russian market.
The measure, which is used to protect the market, is especially controversial now that food waste has become a major talking point in the news.
However, Belgische Fruitveiling (BFV) stressed that the cooperative always prefers to use other options to deal with surplus fruit, including sending to processors, charities and biogas plants, and that this was merely an undesirable “last resort”.
“We do use other channels, but there are always practical hurdles to overcome,” said Evrard. “There is a limit to the volume that you can send to a charity, for example. This was a last-minute solution, and it saddens us to have to do this.”
Evrard said that the after-effects of the Russian boycott were still being felt across Europe, particularly by apple and pear growers. One issue is the time it takes for apple and pear trees to come into full production, somewhere between three and six years, making it harder for topfruit growers to switch to different crops than, for instance, tomato producers.
“When you export 85 per cent of production, as is the case for all Belgian fresh produce, finding a new market that will compensate for the loss of Russia doesn’t happen overnight,” he said.
In the medium term, he added, things needed to change. “Instead of having one variety that is sold both locally and in Russia, depending on the size of the fruit, we need to diversify with club varieties like Belgica and Redlove for the local market, Joly Red apples and Sweet Sensation pears for overseas markets,” he said. “But this takes time. Over the last ten years, BFV has invested heavily in developing new varieties and new markets, as well as in packaging and innovation, and in improving growing standards and reducing residues.”
“At BFV, we have taken a lead in breaking into new markets,” Evrard continued. “We helped open up the Indian and Chinese markets for all Belgian growers and are actively working to open up others. The fact that Belgian companies are sending more to India and China is not only due to the closure of the Russian market. It’s equally down to the innovation and anticipation that BFV has shown over the past decade.”
