A burgeoning global market for frozen fruit and vegetables is not a threat to the fresh market, UK traders believe.

The world frozen fruit and veg market is expected to exceed 21.5 million tonnes by 2012, according to a new report from Global Industry Analysts Inc.

Fresh Produce Consortium ceo Nigel Jenney said: “We understand that growers will want to utilise some crops for freezing - however, fresh produce still retains the lion’s share of 5 A DAY and will continue to do so. Fresh fruit and vegetables remain good value.”

There is also a lot of innovation in the sector to encourage increased consumption with easy-to-cook and ready-seasoned products as well as novel mixes and preparations.

The report also found that growth rates in the UK are slowing as the market matures, but that there could be more opportunity looking ahead in the frozen fruit rather than vegetable sector and the world-wide frozen fruit market is expected to rise by 247,000t between 2008 and 2012.

Tim Mudge, who runs both processed vegetable and fresh produce crop associations, said a growing market for frozen vegetables is indicative of increased knowledge among consumers. He said: “From an historic point of view, I don’t think an increase in the frozen fruit and vegetable market will have an impact on the market for fresh. It is more a case of consumers getting savvy about how and when to buy produce. Food waste has been highlighted as an issue and I think an increase in consumption of frozen produce shows that people are adapting their eating habits to reduce wastage and therefore expenditure. Any increase in uptake of frozen fruit and vegetables is likely to be complementary rather than detrimental to the fresh produce market.”