The latest sectorial study published by Crédito y Caución highlights the particular situation that the global food sector is facing, in which small farmers and food suppliers are disappearing in favor of larger groups.
The French food industry, consisting of more than 10,000 companies that typically have less than 20 people, begins to lose market share of close to 19%, despite its worldwide prestige.
Italy is going through a similar process, in which small businesses that make up the sector are mostly fighting against the fall in demand and foreign competition.
Denmark has already developed a process of concentration and can be seen like economies of scale that have increased their bargaining power.
In Germany the industry clings to the growth opportunities in emerging markets like China.
In Spain, the industry is beginning to transform itself to meet the challenges of changes in global demand and changing habits. Spain has one of the most important agricultural sectors of Europe. It is the second European producer country of fruit and vegetable after Italy.
The production, processing, supply and distribution of the food industry in the Spanish market represents nearly 8% of GDP and employs nearly 1.8 million jobs, which translates into 10% of total employment in Spain, and about 15% of the
exports.
In 2011 this sector employed approximately 30,000 companies employing 446,300 people directly. 96% of the companies in the sector are SMEs, with fewer than 50 employees, of which 80% have less than 10 employees.
The increase in commodity prices and energy bills, are hurting the profitability of the sector, especially for companies with low export activity. The sector has been able to offset Spain's economic weakness, which is caused by a drop of domestic household expenditure for almost a year, with an increase in exports of 12% in 2011. In the last full financial year, the sector grew by 1.8% in sales, representing nearly 84,000 million Euro.
Source: Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias