After a steady Christmas, the prepared fruit and vegetable industry is bracing itself for a tough year ahead. With production and transportation costs rising, businesses are cutting their costs and looking for ways to become more efficient.
“We have paid a premium price for lemons throughout the Christmas period and it has been very difficult to make a profit in that area; but generally it has been a steady Christmas and product availability has been as expected,” said Sarah Cooper of Coopers Produce, which supplies fresh produce to foodservice businesses. “Most people in the industry are saying that we are possibly in for a difficult time this year. Many think that people will want to save their money and will spend less on eating out and in the supermarkets, but I do not think it will be as bad as they are making out.
“Prices are going to have to go up and it will have to pass down the line to the consumer. But this has been a long time coming as people have been paying far too little for fresh produce for a long time. For example, the price of carrots has stayed the same for years, but the overall cost of producing, processing and putting it in a van has increased tremendously. It has got to happen and I think the industry will get through it.”
No comments yet