How is the fresh produce sector moving towards the one and a half meter society? Will working from home become the new normal? Is e-commerce accelerating? Will the supermarket become an even more important sales channel? We asked Co-operative DOOR what long-term effects of this Corona crisis are expected on daily work and trade.
An almost empty office at DOOR
Working from home quickly organised
"Here, office workers are working from home as much as possible, including the sales and marketing teams. Good working from home facilities are essential for this, but fortunately we were able to organise these quickly. Working from home has turned out to be fine, better than we could have imagined beforehand. Consultations go on all day by using video calling. Everything can go on as usual, but it is not exactly ideal. Just like everyone else, we do miss real personal contact. We expect that more work will be done from home in the future."
"In addition to more working from home, we expect that video calling will also continue and will be used much more often than before the corona outbreak. Discussing or negotiating, for example, is also possible via video calling, it makes the work more efficient and fewer kilometres will be driven. The need for personal contact will continue to exist, but will be in a different balance with more online contact," the cooperative expects.
Focus on home consumption
It is also expected that e-commerce will continue to accelerate. "This is also evident from the online turnover growth at supermarkets. Whether the supermarkets in themselves will become a more important sales channel? Everyone can see that the food retail channel in these times of corona virus is a widely used and steadily growing sales channel. Research shows that consumers have a new perspective when it comes to preparing food at home and enjoying it with the family. We believe that the underlying out-of-home trend will continue including on-the-go, but at the moment home consumption is the channel where the focus is will stay on for the time being. "
"Due to the corona measures, the demand for packaged product is currently increasing. The plastic discussion has now been pushed to the background because food safety for consumers has increased significantly in priority and as a result, sustainable packaging has fallen slightly. However, we expect the discussion to return soon.4 We continue to work hard behind the scenes to make packaging more sustainable, regardless of the current trend among consumers. Making packaging sustainable in combination with food safety is and remains our top priority! "
Healthy, fresh food is even more important
When asked about the other effects of this corona outbreak on the fruit and vegetable trade, the cooperative replied: "Healthy fresh food was already topical and has become even more important due to this pandemic. We believe that consumers (will) eat more consciously, with vitamin-rich and nutritious products such as fruit and vegetables being an important part of our diet. Fresh and healthy food, nutrients, energy sources, food from the source, less industrial products, enjoying something special at home, but also offering (mental) convenience. These are all trends that we will see in higher intensity in the coming years! "
For more information:
Cooperative DOOR U.A. 
info@doorpartners.nl
www.cooperatiedoor.nl