Countries in the BeNeLux regions are important producers of frozen fruit and vegetables in particular, but other frozen categories are also beginning to see growth opportunities.
Belgium has ideal conditions for growing vegetables, at it boosts a temperate maritime climate and a favorable soil composition make Belgium an ideal region for growing vegetables. The central position in Europe, combined with extensive transport facilities (road, water, rail), provide efficient export opportunities. According to VEGEBE, the Union of the Belgian vegetables processing sector and the trade, the processing companies are located in the center of the fields where the vegetables are grown. This ensures shorter transport times, which has a positive effect on the quality of the end product. Belgium can thus be considered to be the ‘vegetable garden of Europe’, also thanks to the fast growth of the frozen vegetable sector.
With 10 companies in Belgium, the Belgian frozen vegetable sector represents one third of the overall European fresh-frozen vegetables production, of which the majority is exported all over the world, the Union states on its website. Every year approximately 50,000 ha of vegetables are grown for the Belgian industry, which are contracted directly or by means of intermediate trade with farmers and vegetable growers in Belgium, the Southern Netherlands and Northern France.
What Do Consumers Look For?
It should come as no surprise that frozen processed fruit and vegetables owns the largest market share in the frozen food segment in both Belgium and the Netherlands. According to Euromonitor data, the former registered a market size of EUR273.5m in 2021, while the latter saw a value of EUR312.6. It should be noted that both countries saw a decrease when compared to 2020, albeit not a significant one (-1,9%, and -2,3% respectively).
This can easily be explained by the fact that lockdowns and restrictions in general were mostly reduced, so consumers took a step back from cooking at home and, as an effect, stocking up. If fruit & vegetables take first place without much of a fight, Belgium and the Netherlands take different paths when it comes to the next categories. Frozen processed seafood is doing extremely well in Belgium, taking second place with a market value of EUR157.9m. Dutch consumers seem to prefer frozen pizza, which somewhat surprisingly generated a market value of EUR265.4m.
The frozen processed seafood didn’t have great results in the Netherlands, ranking as the fourth category after the above-mentioned and frozen processed meat. Even though both countries burst with innovation through numerouse start-ups in the plant-based department, the frozen meat and seafood substitutes category has a very small market share (EUR4.7m in Belgium and EUR16.4m in the Netherlands). The good news for those involved is that the percetage is growing, as the market in Belgium saw an 21.2% increase in 2020 vs 2019, followed by a slump in 2021 vs 2020, while the one in the Netherlands kept on growing despite the pandemic’s aftermath: 29.8% in 2020 vs 2019 and 33.9% in 2021 vs 2020.
Leaders in the BeNeLux Region
The BeNeLux region is home to some of the EU’s leading suppliers of frozen vegetables. One example is Ardo, which is headquartered in Belgium and operates many production and packing sites throughout Europe. Its frozen vegetables are exported to regions such as Africa, the Middle East, North and Latin America and the Australasian countries. Until the early stages of 2016, it operated in the Spanish Ultracongelados de la Ribera (UCR) joint venture with Bonduelle, but it has since acquired its former partner’s 50% stake. The company also supplies frozen fruits (e.g. berry fruits, apples, rhubarb and banana puree), as well as frozen vegetable-based snacks and appetisers.
While American-based, Nomad Foods represents another of the leaders within the BeNeLux frozen foods market, and while these countries are not viewed as its largest and most significant markets, Nomad has historically performed well there. The number of frozen vegetable companies in the Belgian vegetable-growing region of South and West Flanders makes Belgium the European market leader, with exports of high quality products representing more than 90% of the total production, according to the platform food.be. ”All these companies are special in that they are structured as family-run companies and all have a strong bond with farming. Today several different companies have also spread their wings throughout the whole of Europe.”
Subsidiaries of West-Flemish frozen vegetable companies have been set up in Portugal, Spain, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Austria. With regard to quality, VEGEBE states that the Belgian frozen food industry is a pioneer in Europe. For example, the sector was closely involved in an integrated quality system from field to plate by means of the “Integral Chain Quality Control” (ICQC) standard for primary arable crops (www.vegaplan.be) and the “self-audit guide for the PVF (potatoes-vegetables-fruit) trade and processing” (www.gidsac.be). Both systems can be certified by external inspection bodies and they have been approved by the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC).