The recent outbreak of E.coli in Germany had a profound impact on sales of fresh produce at the country's leading discounters, according to a new report.
The study, carried out by the GfK marketing research organisation, published by Wirtschaftswoche magazine and reported by The Local, showed that fresh produce sales at the likes of Aldi and Lidl dropped by nearly a third during the peak of the crisis, through the first half of June.
When the outbreak was first made public, organic store sales of fresh fruit and vegetables actually grew, the report noted, but then fell as media reported that the origin of the outbreak may have been in Germany.
In these following weeks, discounters continued to see sales drop as consumers avoided fresh vegetables in particular.
The GfK study revealed that sales of vegetables in the country fell 16 per cent through the crisis period, with sales of conventional cucumbers down more than 40 per cent when compared with the previous year, followed by lettuce and tomatoes (down by 30 per cent).
