The intricacies of European supply and production were discussed last week at Fresh2003 with producers citing a fragmented industry, lack of political will and fierce competition for what was deemed an unstructured approach.

A panel which included Olivier Sinquin of Prince de Bretagne (France), David Marguleas of Sunworld (US), Maarten de Moor of Lava (Belgium) and Renzo Piraccini of Apofruit (Italy) discussed the question of how growers can influence the market and whether development takes place with the end-consumer or producer in mind.

"If we don't understand what the consumer wants we can't be successful," said Marguleas. "Our varieties are grower-friendly and easy to pack, but we are always mindful of consumer needs at the same time.

Lava's de Moor said: "It's the retailer who knows the consumer but there is still a need to collaborate with producers. Each consumer has his tastes but our clients will always want a product that their competitors have not got and that's our challenge for the next century."

Apofruits Piraccini maintained that supermarket supplies where more to do with price than quality. "Obviously we work out the required quality specifications, but for the companies that have survived, it's about a low cost. In Italy labour costs are very high and innovation represents tremendous expenditure. The challenge is to work together to see how we can decrease costs."

Sinquin surmised: "This year has been exceptional so the pay back has been fairly good, but there are key points that we have to remember if we are to improve in Europe. At Prince de Bretagne, 50 per cent of our produce is exported but we have no negotiation power and the fragmentation of growers won't improve our situation. The smaller a business is, the less able it is to promote products...There are areas in Europe that are strong, for example, Almeria in tomatoes, but equally there are other regions in other countries that aren't."

De Moor agreed, saying that different production regions could learn from each other. "but the moment you get into the same supplies then you are competitors," he said.

Piraccini, however, said that Italian growers are having a difficult time, although 2003 has been a year of expansion that had led to a greater will to co-operate. "Now there is a better spirit of competition with growers realising that the only way to survive on the market is to co-operate. 50 per cent of fruit and vegetables in Italy are not produced there and consumers are upset about it. Initially the supermarket chains weren't interested in typical Italian produce, but in the last year there has been a real change in the mindset. Major retail schemes are so powerful when faced with small growers but they are under pressure to change, I believe that consumers will want to know what they're eating and where it's from."

Sinquin concluded. "To develop sales we need to associate a product against a certain region - that way you can create additional interest."

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