All players along the supply chain, including seed companies, producers and retailers, must form partnerships and work more closely if they are to achieve and sustain growth in markets for fresh vegetables around the world.
Cyrille Filott, a senior agribusiness analyst at Netherlands-based financial group Rabobank, told delegates attending the first ever Vegetable Future Forum the best option in the coming years would be to establish dedicated supply lines.
'We have entered a new and more complex trading environment driven by increasing demand, while on the supply side the sector is struggling to meet demand, so prices will become more volatile,' he suggested. 'The solution, as far as we're concerned, is to develop more dedicated supply chains.'
Planting for growth
Organised by Bayer CropScience and held at its international headquarters in Monheim, Germany, the forum heard how a forecast rise in global population over the coming decade set against diminishing growth in yields was making it more and more important to secure reliable sources of high-quality produce.
'We see the dedicated supply chain as the future model for how all of the various industry players are going to interact with each other,' said Filott. 'Until now, it has been far more open and unplanned.'
Rüdiger Scheitza, a member of Bayer CropScience's management board, told the 200 delegates in attendance that his company was committed to helping connect the various parts of the vegetable supply chain and, in doing so, contribute to better returns for growers.
'Our aim is to become the partner of choice in fruit and vegetables by working together with partners to drive innovation forward,' said Scheitza.
Bayer CropScience has targeted sales of around €3bn from fresh produce seed sales by 2020, compared with €1.7bn in 2011, he confirmed.
'There is a growing market for fruit and vegetables and we see further growth due to increasing demand for healthier food.'
Boosting human nutrition by developing new vegetable varieties remains one of the company’s key commitments and an area in which Bayer CropScience plans to invest €5bn to research and develop improved seed types between 2011 and 2016.
'We are able to offer growers integrated solutions – from vegetable seeds marketed under our brand name Nunhems, innovative chemical and biological crop protection solutions, to an extensive service backup - to help vegetable growers get the very best from their fields,' commented Frank Terhorst, head of strategic business management for fruit and vegetables and insecticides.
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