The fresh produce sector in the Netherlands needs to do more in terms of promoting the quality of its production, according to Jack Stroeken, director of Holland's fruit and vegetable promotional body GroentenFruit Bureau.
Speaking during a seminar entitled 'The next step 2009' held at the Greenport centre in Venlo, Mr Stroeken said that while the Netherlands had made considerable progress in terms of reaching consumers, more remained to be done in order to raise the profile of Dutch fruits and vegetables.
He also drew attention to research that suggested consumers in Germany – Holland's largest export market for fruit and vegetables – displayed a preference for German, Italian and Spanish fresh produce over Dutch products, although he also confirmed the situation was improving.
'This has nothing to do with freshness, quality and appearance,' he pointed out, 'but more to do with the fact that consumers have little concept of our production and therefore no confidence.'
While the industry has made great strides in the fields of environment, energy and quality, Mr Stroeken said he felt there were plenty of new opportunities for the Dutch produce sector to seize.
'This is especially important as more and more consumers are becoming aware of the Dutch concept of cultivation,' he argued.
Despite generating annual turnover of some €2.3bn, only 0.17 per cent of that figure is spent on marketing and promotions, Mr Stroeken revealed.
In comparison, the average marketing spend within the entire Dutch food industry is between 1 and 4 per cent, while erstwhile Dutch marketing board the Centraal Bureau Tuinbouwveilingen typically spent 0.7 per cent of industry revenues on promotional activities.
Productschap Tuinbouw, the umbrella organisation for the Dutch agriculture sector, has confirmed that income from compulsory contributions from producers will fall by €15m this year.
The organisation also revealed plans to significantly reduce its spending next year, with an estimated reserve of some €70m set to be available.
For the fresh fruit and vegetable sector, funding reserves are set to fall to just under €19m in 2010.
