The trend towards healthier diets continues to represent one of the main drivers behind demand for fruit and vegetables. In the case of the latter, the rising popularity of plant-based diets has benefited sales of vegetables in fresh, frozen and canned formats.
According to research from Veganz, the number of vegans in Europe doubled from 1.3 million to 2.6 million between 2016 and 2020, to the extent that this consumer group now accounts for over 3% of the regional population. Almost one-third of Europeans no longer consider themselves exclusively meat-eaters, while flexitarians (i.e. those seeking to reduce meat consumption while not eliminating it entirely) now make up 23% of the European population. At 32%, the percentage of the population classifying themselves as flexitarians is highest in Austria, ahead of Germany (30%) and Portugal (29%). Adoption of plant-based diets is expected to continue – by 2025, it is forecast that vegans and vegetarians will account for 25% of the total UK population.
The European market for fruit and vegetables has also been strongly influenced by the growing popularity of organic products, the popularity of which has benefited from heightened consumer desire for foods without artificial additives and ingredients. Between 2010 and 2019, the amount of organic farmland in Europe increased by two-thirds, while Germany and France have the region’s largest markets for organic foods by some distance. The share of the total fresh produce market taken by organic products is highest in countries such as Austria, Sweden and Switzerland.
Frozen Vegetables
Europe ranks as one of the world’s leading producers of fresh vegetables, although it also imports significant quantities from elsewhere in the world. Some of the largest categories in terms of output in 2020 include onions (around 7 million tonnes), peppers (2.9 million tonnes) and fresh beans (1 million tonnes). Leading producer nations include the Netherlands (which accounts for almost a quarter of onion production), France (which is the leading supplier of fresh beans) and Spain (which accounts for around half of output of peppers).
Vegetables represent one of the largest sectors within the frozen foods market, both in European and global terms. In recent years, growth within the sector has been aided by the development of more innovative products, such as ethnic mixtures (e.g. Asian stir-fry products) and frozen vegetable purees, as well as strong demand during the pandemic for easy-to-prepare and ready-to-eat foodstuffs with consumers eating in the home more frequently. Market performance has also benefited from the growing perception that frozen vegetables represent a healthy option, given that the nutrients are ‘locked in’ during the freezing process. As such, frozen vegetables are increasingly considered nutritionally superior to their fresh equivalents. The advent of steam cooking, coupled with the emergence of packaging formats especially designed for this process, has also aided sales.
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