Global trends in the fruit and vegetable industry

Bryan Silbermann, CEO of the Produce Marketing Association (PMA), together with Michael Worthington, CEO of PMA Australia-New Zealand, gave a presentation at the recent PMA NZ/AU Fresh Connections event, held in Brisbane to give an insight into major trends in the fresh produce industry, both globally and locally (Aus/NZ). “With ‘Growing a brighter future’ as the theme of this event, we are going to share our perspectives on issues of farming, retail, food service and technology,” said Silbermann in his opening.

In an article on the presentation, Nichola Watson reports the following trends.

• The sale of rebranded less than perfect produce at a reduced price.
• Growing intersection and collaboration between agriculture, technology and capital investment.
• Increased transparency, providing more information about how the product was grown in an attempt to improve consumer trust, as well as an increased use of technology to bring across this information.
• Investment into technology tackling water shortage issues.
• Increased focus on sustainability, responding to the consumer trend where especially younger consumers are looking more holistically at healthy eating – focussing not on their own health, but also the impact that a product’s production and distribution has on the health of our planet.
• According to the experts, fruit and vegetables are currently one of the major snacking alternatives in all world regions.
• Focussing on technology platforms in marketing in order to reach millennials.
• Focussing on an image of fresh, natural, local to attract centennials.
• Investment of resource into food safety and food quality.
• Increased use of genomics for the improvement of food safety and more.

Source: AgriOrbit