According to preliminary data, sales of fresh fruit and vegetables (excluding potatoes) in the German retail trade in 2018 will be exactly the same as in the previous year. In 2017, a record was set at just under €15 billion. In 2018, a slight increase in fruits (+1%) offset a slight decrease (-1%) in vegetables. However, the good prior-year result could only be maintained by higher average prices, as purchasing volumes shrunk by 4% for fresh fruit and almost 3% for fresh vegetables. Behind the increase in the average price paid by just under 4% is also the continuous redeployment in the range in favor of higher priced items. There were also real price increases.
The slight increase in fruit sales within food retail was achieved above all through full-line retailers. In contrast to the fruit market, there was still a small gain in market share for the discounters in the case of vegetables, but here too the full-line producers increased their sales. The losers were also shopping outlets outside the food retail trade.
Outlook fruit for 2019
After sluggish sales until mid-November and the big harvest in Europe, apple sales will have to be accelerated in the second half of the season. At just under 4.2 million tonnes, inventories in the EU (excluding Italy and the UK) on 1 November 2018 were significantly higher than in 2016 and 2015 (respectively 3.8 million tonnes), from the frosty year of 2017 (2.8 million tonnes).
For kiwis, following the weak harvest in 2017, many countries in southern Europe are also coming back with a better harvest. The conditions for the start of the season were not as favorable here as in the previous year, as there were still plenty of Kiwis from New Zealand on the market. In the northern hemisphere (Europe and California) the Kiwi harvest should reach an order of magnitude of approximately 800,000 t. This is on a similar level as two years ago. The weak previous year's harvest is even exceeded by 9%.
Similarly, the citrus harvest will be higher in the Mediterranean, especially in Morocco and Spain. Thus, the fruit markets should remain well supplied in 2019 in the first half of the year, if weather-related failures fail.
Outlook for vegetables
The market for stored vegetables will remain scarce in the first few months of 2019. In the case of onions, imports are expected to start early, with European stocks, with the exception of Spain, having shrunk sharply by the end of March.
There are no major shifts in the cultivation of fruit vegetables in Spain. Here, the acreage for paprika, cucumbers and tomatoes is said to have risen slightly and the acreage for eggplants has fallen slightly. The water supplies are replenished, so that there can be sufficient irrigation. However, the actual harvest depends mainly on the temperature and therefore is difficult to predict.