EU fruit, vegetable producers scramble to save harvest as energy prices soar

Soaring energy bills have sent the EU’s horticulture sector scrambling to save their produce just as harvest time hits, leaving some debating whether to simply leave their crops to rot – and even whether to continue growing in the future.

While the conversation at the EU level has tended to be dominated by dairy and cereals, the fruit and vegetable sector remains “key for securing the EU’s food security,” according to Luc Vanoirbeek, Fruit and Vegetable Working Party Chairman for EU farmers’ association COPA-COGECA.

“There are a lot of people depending on this sector – but we have to survive this year,” he told EURACTIV, stressing that while the costs of producing have soared to a record high, the prices of products “are not following”.

Energy bills in the sector have soared as much as 12 times their average, with one Belgian farmer reporting his annual €3,000 bill had skyrocketed to more than €50,000 this year.

The burgeoning energy costs have had a threefold impact, according to Vanoirbeek.

On the production side, this has heavily impacted greenhouse production systems and input costs, such as fertilisers.

This, combined with this summer’s record-breaking heatwave, has seen the volume of some products, such as tomatoes, drop as much as 20%.

But now, with the harvest season for the EU’s 12 million tonnes of apples and 2 million tonnes of pears in full swing, producers are faced with another hurdle – the effective storage of these fruits.

“People have to decide what to do in the coming week – the pears are picked, and they have to be stored; otherwise, they are lost,” Vanoirbeek told EURACTIV.

From the moment a fruit or vegetable is harvested, it needs to be kept in cool storage to avoid spoilage, but this is energy intensive.

Months of hardship have left producers facing tough choices, with some taking to social media to highlight the gravity of their situation.

“Next week, we will have to decide between continuing to harvest at a loss or letting everything rot, apples, pears, and the rest,” one farmer wrote on LinkedIn in a post entitled ‘Chronicle of an assured death’.

Already, as it stands, as much as a third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, due in large part to inadequate storage solutions and inefficient supply chains. Meanwhile, the warning comes amid growing food security concerns due to supply disruptions caused by the Ukraine war.

But for Vanoirbeek, wastage is not an option.

“I have heard farmers saying they don’t want to pick anymore, but this is not an alternative,” he said.

Severe drought could cancel out gains in EU food production

Just under half of EU territory is at risk of severe and prolonged drought, according to a new European Commission report amid warnings this unprecedented heatwave may negate gains in food production supposed to help plug the gap left by the Ukraine war. 

Smart, sharp solutions

Instead, Vanoirbeek is banking on some innovative solutions to save the harvest, involving shorter, smarter cooling systems followed by a quicker sell – but this, too, is hampered due to disruptions in the supply chain.

“We will have to try to sell it immediately at current prices – but, on the other hand, we see that the selling and marketing is really difficult right now with the disturbed export flows,” he said.

For example, some EU countries, such as Poland, have experienced a bumper apple harvest this year.

Under normal circumstances, a large proportion of these would be exported to neighbouring Ukraine and Belarus, but this year will now have to find a home within the EU’s internal market.

“Essentially, we find ourselves in a situation where costs are rising, exports are diminishing, and consumption is going down,” Vanoirbeek concluded.

Future full of fears

While some countries, like Belgium, have offered some financial help to small producers, this is largely “symbolic”, according to Vanoirbeek.

And, while the sector is currently in crisis mode, the real concern lies down the road, he warned.

“At the moment, a lot of [producers] do have long-lasting contracts into 2023-2024, so haven’t felt the full force of these rising prices yet,” he said.

But, looking forward, many are reconsidering their futures within the industry.

“They are now thinking about what they will do in the next production season, whether they will continue growing or not,” he said, stressing that, unlike in previous moments of difficulty, there is “no light at the end of this tunnel”.

German farmers call for more production in face of drought-induced low yields

Germany’s grain harvest is lower than average this year due to persistent droughts impacting farmers in many regions, but unlike environmentalists and climate activists, Germany’s farmers’ union believes Brussels should stop imposing restrictions on production.

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

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