Fruit and vegetables consumption: first quarter 2014 still in a downturn

Signs of a renewed confidence indicated by multiple sources not confirmed by the fresh fruit and vegetable market.

Compared to the same period of the previous year, the monitoring Osservatorio Macfrut-Gfk confirms for the first quarter of 2014 the same dwindling of consumption by volume (-1.9%), made worse by falling prices, which bring induced consumption down to -5.7%.More specifically, vegetables prove most problematic (-2.7% by volume and -8.7% by value), but the products that saw the worst performance were citrus fruit (counterbalanced by the growth of exotic fruit), tomatoes and carrots in terms of consumption by value.
The issue of negative consumption trends has now reached the point of a structural problem: one need only consider that in the last 5 years, domestic consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables in the first quarter dropped nearly 10%, both by value and by volume.
Retail prices are falling but to no avail, and likewise all the efforts of programs to re-launch consumption. Neither does the moral motivation of the consumer, as surveyed by Istat in recent months, manage to counteract the negative trend in the fresh fruit and vegetable sector.

How to orient oneself in such a situation? Possible ideas on the topic will be presented at the next Macfrut 2014 (Cesena, September 24th-25th) «which - declares Domenico Scarpellini, president of Cesena Fiera - anticipates the themes of Expo 2015: an occasion to make contacts and work together, for example with the wellness and nutrition sector, which have been identified as drivers of the recovery. An example is represented by the category of foods with health benefits, which, according to Gfk reaches 70% of Italian families, and, according to Nielsen, has increased by 17% in volume in one year. In order to better analyze this issue, create opportunities and generate solutions, Macfrut 2014 is organizing an ad hoc conference».