The benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption are an increasingly important health and nutrition issue. Rising incomes resulting from economic growth in some developing regions are allowing consumers to buy more expensive fruits and vegetables than before, and create increased demand for variety and quality.

The fruits and vegetables market can be divided in different components: fresh fruits and vegetables (around 50 %), processed fruit and vegetables (approximately 40 %), the rest being tree nuts and pulses. On the whole, bananas are the most important commodity by value, followed by tomatoes, grapes, and apples. Among the processed fruits and vegetables, we can distinguish: tomato paste and ketchup; fruit juice concentrates and purées; juices, nectars and drinks; preserves, jams, syrups and compotes; canned vegetables; frozen fruit and vegetables.

Ten countries account for most of the total world production of fruits and vegetables – of which the top 5 are: China (39%), India (9%), USA (5%), Brazil (3,3%), and Turkey (2.6%). Some countries are very substantial producers of fruits and vegetables but export comparatively little. This is the case, for example, of China and India.

Production is gradually shifting from developed to developing and transition economies, creating opportunities for expanding processing capacity for local consumption, import substitution and export, particularly off-season and specialized or niche products.

Within EastAgri region, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Poland produce the highest quantities of fruits and vegetables. On the whole, the region is a net importing one in this sector, partly due to the very high deficit of Russia. Nevertheless, some countries have a favourable fruit and vegetable trade balance such as Turkey (which is, by far, the most important exporting country of the region), followed by Poland and Uzbekistan.

Agribusiness exporters in emerging markets, such as in CEE and CIS, have to face several challenges: they have to keep up with quality standards, supermarket delivery schedules, aircraft logistics and then wait several months for their money. The scarcity of raw materials is the single largest problem for most agro-processing companies throughout the region. An advantage of most factories is that they are multi-purpose: with the installed equipment, they can produce preserves, jams, syrups and juices, paste, purée and concentrates. However, in most countries the cleaning in place is rarely applied, hygiene levels are usually low, operational monitoring is absent, and pasteurization is severely exaggerated, leading to colour and taste losses and to unnecessary steam consumption.

Sources: FAOSTAT; FAO Food Outlook 2004-2009; FAO/EBRD Handbook; Global Trade Patterns in Fruits and Vegetables; USDA; EastAgri