BEHR starts the outdoor season
The first sets of vegetable plants are in the ground. At the BEHR farm in southern Hesse, planting of iceberg lettuce already started at the end of February. The Gresse site in Mecklenburg-Western

Freshfel Europe urges facilitation of trade
At a dedicated session on sustainable food systems hosted by the World Trade Organisation’s SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) Committee, Freshfel Europe stressed the important role played by the

"Leek prices dropped sharply last week, but they won't be cheap this season"
For many of the vegetable prices, the peak seems to be finally behind us. Products like leeks have been dropping visibly in recent days, according to Guy De Meyer of Demargro. "This week the price

BVEO: German producer organisations for O+G face the challenges and live up to their responsibility
Massively increased costs - no sufficient compensation through higher sales prices at producer level: this is how the situation of the German fruit and vegetable industry can be summarised, as

Peruvian grapes gain green light for Japan
Japan has authorised imports of Peruvian grapes, opening up a market of 125m consumers for the Andean nation. Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism said the country will be able to export

The season of local tomatoes in Poland started a month late
Mass sales of tomatoes from local greenhouses have started on the Polish wholesale market this week. At the same time, the season of local greenhouse tomatoes this year began with a delay of a

Looye is committed to a greener future
Viticulture under glass in the Netherlands helps to guarantee the food supply in Europe. In doing so, the fruit and vegetable sector produces according to the "principle of eco-modernity" and

UK grower APS eyes expansion following P3P acquisition
Cheshire-based A Pearson Holdings Limited (APS), which grows over 500 million tomatoes a year in the UK, has been acquired by the P3P Partners group. The Pearson family, and other former

Dutch processing potato usage highest since 2016/17
The February 2023 processing potato usage release from Vavi, the Dutch potato processors union, pegged February potato usage at 334 thousand tonnes, the highest figure for the month since 2017.

Increased demand is a main factor for growth of US avocado imports
Avocados are currently the most-consumed tropical fruit in the world. One of the biggest consumers of avocados in the world is the US. Its annual per capita avocado consumption has already

"We expect a smooth transition to the Peruvian avocado season and a rebound in consumption"
The Spanish avocado season is ending in the south, while it is starting in the Region of Valencia, a later area with more limited quantities. The first containers of fruit from Peru are also

‘UK retail chains should do more to combat potential abuses in supply chains‘
This month, British supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose agreed to pay for audits on British farms to inspect the conditions of foreign seasonal workers and combat abuse. They

Spain: Lemons reduce water footprint by almost 40 per cent over the past 30 years
The lemon sector in particular has managed to reduce its water footprint by 39% to 271 m3/t over the past 30 years, making the lemon the fruit with the smallest water footprint of all fruits grown

Moldova dramatically expanded the geography of apple exports in 2022
According to Moldovan statistics, in 2021, the country supplied apples to 18 countries of the world, and the list expanded to 30 last year. The heads of ministries, departments, international

The area of ferula plantations in the Tashkent region (Uzbekistan) to increase by more than 6 times in 2023
In recent years, Uzbekistan has been actively developing the production of raw materials from a medicinal plant – ferula, the plantation areas of which are intensively expanding, and processing

Growers predict cauli crisis
The UK could be facing a cauliflower shortage from mid-April onwards, warn suppliers, after freezing winter temperatures wiped out domestic yields. The crop in Lincolnshire – a leading producer

Nature’s Pride promotes water conservation efforts at UN Water Conference
Europe’s largest avocado importer Nature’s Pride is set to tackle the challenge of responsible water management head on this week when it takes part in the UN 2023 Water Conference in New

“The Polish apple season should still be going by the start of June at the very least”
After two strong months, March has been on and off when it comes to the apple trade in Poland. Mateusz Wajnert, head of sales for Polish apple exporter Galster, states that demand is looking

Carrot export season to Europe and North America kicks off
BDA/Dorot Farm, the grower group of fresh, sweet carrots from Israel, is starting the new export season to Europe and North America. Dorot Farm supplies fresh jumbo carrots to the markets,

"During the festival of Ramadan, we sell jumbo Medjoul dates by the pallet"
This year's Ramadan period officially starts on March 22 and is a high-turnover season for many fruit wholesalers. "Due to the high prices of many products, this year's Ramadan period is proving

Dutch tomato towers above with peak price in February
An average kilogram price of over €4.50 and a price increase compared to January of 171 percent: last month, tomato prices were extreme. The European Commission's tomato dashboard shows this

"Our preservative pad can prolong the fresh-keeping period of blueberries by about 30%"
Blueberries are a perishable fruit, which are easily to damage during processing, and are also prone to mildew and dehydration in storage and logistics. This also brings great difficulties to the

UK food price inflation surges to 45-year high
UK food inflation reached a new high of 18.2% this past month amid a shortage of fresh fruit and vegetables on supermarket shelves. The price of basics such as vegetables, eggs, and dairy products

Organic celery sees strong price decline, clementine and tangerine prices up
With organic sales of 3,278 million Swiss francs, two percent less organic food was sold in the Swiss retail trade in 2022 compared to the previous year. This decline is explained by the return of