Launch of the Second Year of the Campaign and the Covid-19 Situation

We are pleased to announce that we have started the second year of the promotional campaign "The power of taste, vitamins and colors - get to know the quality of Apples from Europe", which we are implementing in the United Arab Emirates. We hope that it will be a fruitful year both in terms of promotional activities and in terms of a successful harvest of European apples and increasing our exports to the United Arab Emirates.

The world is now in a difficult position due to the prevailing COVID pandemic, which also left its mark on our campaign. Some of our activities have been postponed, but not canceled. The study tour of the Emirati fruit importers and the media will take place as soon as the world situation normalizes and it is possible to fly normally, while the Specialty Food Festival will take place in November 2020. We also plan to promote European apples in Emirati shopping centers, which will probably take place this winter.

According to the latest press release from the Association of Polish Distributors Fruit and Vegetables "Fruit Union", the situation related to the COVID pandemic caused a sharp increase in the consumption of pre-packaged fruit and vegetables and a general increase in the consumption of fruit and vegetables.

During the meeting of the group of experts on the market of fruit and vegetables at the European Commission, it was noticed that the tendency to build stocks and buy prepackaged food with longer expiry dates during the first phase of the "lockdown" had an impact on the increased interest in fruit and vegetables. The opposite trend has been observed over time - increasing the consumption of organic food and buying local and organic food. Both trends had a positive impact on the European fruit and vegetable industry.

Experts said that only in Germany, the turnover in the fresh food sector increased to EUR 6.8 million in March, an increase of 15% (10% is explained by higher volumes and 5% higher prices). There has also been an increase in the number of consumers purchasing local and organic products."

There was an increase in retail sales by nearly 25%, but only partially compensated producers for the decline in sales in the HORECA channel, which was completely closed during the first months of the pandemic. At the same time, producers estimate that they incurred approximately EUR 1 billion in additional costs during the 2 months of the pandemic related to adapting production and logistics to COVID.

However, the COVID situation has left its mark on exports. The main problems include: sharp logistics disruptions throughout the supply chain, "empty shipments", no containers, no paper certificates, slowdowns in operations and transport resulting in loss of quality and food waste.

The commission's forecasts for the coming season are cautious. Many European countries experienced late frost, as for example in Hungary, Austria, Poland and Italy. Polish farmers and growers were also hit by drought. In France, the arable soil is the driest in five years. Intense rains flood farmland and orchards, contributing to the rotting of fruit and vegetables. This can result in high prices and a lack of competition in more distant markets.

The promotional campaign "The power of taste, vitamins and colors - discover the quality of apples from Europe" aims to promote European apples, increase their competitiveness and consumption on the United Arab Emirates market and the re-export markets from the UAE.

Feel free to contact us and get an offer:

Association of Polish Distributors

Fruit and Vegetables "Unia Owocowa"

Tel. (+48) 22 295 01 61

Kom. (+48) 696 859 993

E-mail: biuro@uniaowocowa.pl