Report highlights unprecedented rise in production costs of fresh produce 

The Global Coalition of Fresh Produce has released a preliminary report on the current costs of production. The report was conducted to shed light on the challenges experienced by the fresh produce sector worldwide. The Coalition gathers representative fresh produce associations from Africa, Asia, North America, South America, Oceania and Europe, giving the Coalition a truly global reach.

The newly published report shows that suppliers in the fresh produce value chain have experienced unprecedented increases in costs, regardless of region of operations. While selling prices have increased in all regions included in the report, it was not enough to overcome the increases in production and operating costs, leaving approximately 57% of the global industry selling at a loss or breaking even. This has severely hampered the sector’s ability to invest in for instance equipment and innovation, and might cause a delayed capability to respond to the effects of climate change currently impacting harvests worldwide.