Salvo Laudani, 59 years old, vice-president and marketing manager of the Oranfrinzer group, stated in an interview to FreshPlaza, “In Freshfel, we follow the evolution of consumers’ expectations. In a society that is constantly changing its eating and purchasing habits, it is crucial for our sector to fully understand consumers’ needs and expectation. Compared to other agri-food sectors, the fresh food sector is always outdated. Therefore, it is necessary to have a better understanding of these trends, as well as of the importance of digital technology for fresh food markets”.
Salvo Laudani
On the fruit and vegetable consumption in Europe
Laudani pointed out that the fruit and vegetable consumption is considerably lower than the WHO’s recommendations – 400 gr per day, at least. “In the first half of the century, multiple factors caused a decrease in consumption: a different lifestyle, a highly competitive food environment, problems of perceptions, issues regarding the accessibility and the availability within the growing foodservice segments.
With regard to the marketing, the export has been heavily affected by the Russian embargo. Additionally, many accessibility problems arose regarding the markets in South-Mediterranean countries (Algeria, Libya, Egypt).
On the other hand, there is an increase in the import thanks to the banana, the avocado and other exotic fruits. The marketing within the EU is stable, with more than 31 million tons.
What is the Freshfel’s position regarding the health directions?
Laudani stated, “Fresh products are extremely healthy, they prevent obesity and other cardiovascular diseases. These represent enormous social challenges. Fruit and vegetable play a key role in our nutrition. They can significantly improve European eating habits. However, scientists and doctors only can convincingly prove the healthy benefits of fresh food. The fruit and vegetable sector has limited resources to obtain ‘health claims’. This is caused by the sector fragmentation, by the diversification of products and varieties, and by the high cost involved in opening the necessary dossiers to the EFSA – European Food Safety Authority.
How does the demand for local and organic products increase in the principal European countries?
According to Laudani, fresh products are one of the ‘most local’ food categories, “On a European level, almost 80% of the consumed or processed vegetables within the same countries where they are grown. Only a very small percentage is sold to neighbouring countries. With regard to fruit, the consumption is around 60%, on a local level. This is integrated because of seasonality, or because it is necessary to diversify the offer – citrus fruit in Northern Europe, exotic fruit, counter-season products. Regarding the organic, it is slowly growing almost reaching 3%. Some EU countries have a big percentage of organic products in their productions. After all, this sector is working for a better sustainability, thus facing the concerns of the society by moving towards organic-control alternatives.
What is the role of Italy within the European and International fruit and vegetable landscape?
The Freshfel Europe vice-president highlighted, “Italy will always be an important player within the European and international market. In the EU market, Italy distributed 3.2 million tons (3.6 billion euros) to Germany, France, Austria, Poland: 750.000 tons of apples, 450.000 tons of grape, 200.000 kiwis, 200.000 tons of peaches”.
Like other EU countries, Italy has been affected by the Russian embargo, by the closing of the Algerian market, and by the economic and political instability of Libya and Egypt. The Italian sector is always proactively looking for new markets, even though the process to sign the agreements is still long, complex and expensive for the counterparts.
What is the Freshfel’s European perspective on the fruit and vegetable sector?
Freshfel is aiming at seizing future opportunities thus increasing the consumption next year in order to reach the level recommended by the WHO. “Therefore, the sector will have a bright future only if we can build a positive image of it. We should educate our consumers on how to eat and to prepare fresh products to consume within the day, as a part of a meal or as a snack.
What is Freshfel’s view of food safety?
European food safety legislation is one of the most demanding in the world. It offers a high level of safety regarding the protection of consumers. Yet, there are some challenges to face: the sector has to deal with conflicting interests between different politics, such as the reduction of the allowed phytosanitary products while the phytosanitary pressure on the plants keeps rising, at the same time. Also, climate change and the spreading of new parasites and disease raise concerns. Not to forget the debate on the waste of food and the prevention from micro-biologic contaminations”. The debate on food security must be situated in a broader context, where different political objectives have to be reconciled. The debate on sustainability raises more concerns, as different things must be taken into account: the social aspects, the circular economy, the packaging development (plastic, logistic, energetic emissions, water, etc.). For more than 3 years, Freshfel set up and managed a workgroup on sustainability to analyse these different aspects in order to share experiences and best practices”.
The mission of Freshfel Europe
Freshfel Europe is a unique association within the European agricultural context. The company aims at giving a voice to the European fresh food supply chain. The company represents different segments of the sector: from the production and the different marketing categories (shippers, exporters, wholesalers and importers) to the retailing. Also, Freshfel has different service suppliers (logistic, phytosanitary products, etc.). The current Freshfel president is Stephan Weist (Rewe group) and the vice-president is Salvo Laudani (Oranfrizer Catania). Freshfel’s headquarters are in Brussel, thus closely following the development of European politics, such as:
Next Reform of the CAP
New legislation on the organic
Promotion policy and priorities of the annual work program for fruit and vegetable
Reform of plant health legislation
Renewal of pesticide legislation
Impact of Brexit
Follow up of new free trade agreements and other issues related to the access to markets
Setting up of a promotion program focusing on 18-30-year-olds using social media
Numerous dossiers related to sustainability and the circular economy.