Several of the UK’s key overseas fresh produce suppliers are increasingly looking at emerging markets in eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa in a bid to expand their sales and spread their commercial activities beyond what have become highly competitive British and European markets. While eager not to undersell their commitment to existing customers in the UK, many exporters in countries such as Chile, Egypt, France, Italy and South Africa have become increasingly determined to seek out new customers outside western Europe.

With a few weeks still to go before apple harvesting gets underway in the north-east Italian region of Trentino-South Tyrol, industry leaders said last week that they were determined to keep pursuing a course of market diversification, especially given the poor situation in terms of demand and consumption levels in many of Italy’s traditional European markets. “We are constantly in search of new customers and markets,” said Georg Kössler, president of the Association of South Tyrol Fruit Growers’ Cooperatives.

“Given the critical juncture at which we find ourselves, we are looking constantly to enter new markets such as those in the Middle East, North Africa and eastern Europe.”

Manar Nasr from the Egyptian Agricultural Export Council, which is organising a special pavilion for the country’s exporters at the Asia Fruit Logistica trade fair in Hong Kong on 5-7 September, believes interest in Asian markets is also growing among his country’s exporters. “We have almost doubled the number of participant companies in our pavilion to 15 exporter companies in total,” he reveals. “Our aim is to penetrate the Asian market by obtaining new importers, retailers and wholesalers to expand in the main Asian countries.”

South Africa’s deciduous fruit industry bodies Hortgro and SATI recently underlined just how important they see expansion into Asia when, faced with the withdrawal of crucial government funding for the country’s own pavilion at Asia Fruit Logistica, they joined the Fresh Produce Exporters’ Forum in helping to find sufficient cash for the stand.

“We had to step in to save the Fruit Logistica South Africa stand in Berlin and now again have to fund Asia Fruit Logistica participation ourselves,” explains Hortgro spokesperson Jacques du Preez. “The original stand will be scaled down considerably, but at least we will be there.”

Elsewhere, blueberries from Chile are among a number of counter-seasonal products expected to sell in greater volume in non-traditional markets during the coming years. John Giles, divisional director of food market analyst Promar International, recently returned from a visit to the Chilean capital Santiago, where he looked closely at the potential of the country’s blueberry sector to expand beyond its established markets in Europe and the US. “There is concern about the impact on shopping and supply-demand chain behaviour as a result of the cautious economic recovery in North America and the huge uncertainty we are seeing in the EU as a result of the euro crisis,” he suggests. “Exports to emerging markets like Russia, China and the Middle East are taking shape and the opening of the Korean market offers another significant opportunity.” -