Berry boom continues, concludes Global Berry Congress 2015

There remains a huge amount of untapped potential in the market for fresh berries, but that potential won?t be realised without addressing a number of challenges, according to leading players in the category who took part in this year?s Global Berry Congress.The event, which took place in Rotterdam on 23-25 March, brought together a truly international audience of more than 350 people from 32 countries to learn about the state of the berry business in 2015 and identify the trends that will shape the category?s development in future.Speakers from right along the supply chain, including producers, marketers and retailers, gave their insight into how the market for berries could continue to grow and how the sector might manage to sell an anticipated larger global crop in the years to come.Robert Verloop, vice-president of marketing at US berry giant Naturipe, agreed that the business needed to redouble its efforts in developing the category.?People say the berry category is oversupplied ? I say that it is under-demanded,? he commented. ?We need consumers to eat more product, more often, and at a higher price.?At the start of the event, Eurofruit editor Mike Knowles revealed the results of the first ever annual survey of professionals working in the European berry business.Among the key findings were the fact that quality, consistency, new varieties and margin pressure are seen as the category?s biggest challenges; growth potential is perceived to be highest for blueberries and raspberries in northern Europe; and emerging countries like Romania and China hold great promise in terms of expanding beyonding established markets.Furthermore, opinion was divided on whether supply would meet or exceed demand for fresh berries.What most attending Global Berry Congress 2015 were agreed upon was that brands have a key role to play in helping to grow that demand.Speaking during the final session, representatives of leading marketers Driscoll?s, BelOrta and Candonga, underlined their confidence in the ability of proprietary labels to make a major difference in terms of profitability in the fresh berry supply chain.?We all believe the consumers are ready for more berries,? said Marieke Appel, marketing and communications director for EMEA at Driscoll?s. ?In the US, we?ve built a very good position with a brand people can trust and we are doing this in Europe too.?Susanne Hounsgaard of Dansk Supermarked said retailers in Denmark were rapidly recruiting customers to the berry category. However, she noted that retailers still had a lot to do when it came to presentation in stores.Technological developments and their potential to help the berry business also featured prominently at this year's conference.Meanwhile, during a special session on blueberries, leading marketers from Chile, Germany and Argentina were agreed that quality remained the key to maintaining an upward trend in sales of the fruit."If we don't concentrate on producing a quality product every single year, it makes it very difficult to market the fruit," explained Andres Armstrong of the Chilean Blueberry Committee.Elsewhere, an exhibition area featuring 18 companies offered an extra dimension to this year's Global Berry Congress networking breaks.And on the event?s second full day, around 80 delegates took part in two tours that visited Bleiswijk-based strawberry grower Koolhaas, a number of different supermarkets and the glorious Market Hall, as well as logistics service provider LBP Rotterdam and the WUR research centre.Key wordsBayas?? ??? ?berry berries?? ??? ???????? ????? ?bero?? ?baie?? ???????? ??????? ??? ?bacca?? ?jagoda?? ??? ???????? ??? ??????? ?beere?? ???????? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ? Poscosecha?? ?postcosecha?? ?postharvest?? ?na-oes?? ??? ??? ???????? ????? ??? ?post-r?colte?? ????? ?? ??????????? ??? ?na-oogst?? ?post-raccolta?? ?Obr?bka po?? ?p?s-colheita?? ????????????????? ?hasat sonras??? ??? ?Ernte?? ????????????????? ????? ????????????? ?postcollita?? ?poskliz?ov頠 ????? ??? ??? ??? ?nakon branja?? ?pozberov頠 ??? ?obdelovanje zemlje po?? ?post-colleita?? ?????? ??????? ?pascapanen?? ??il?onn postharvest?? ??????? ?p?c ra?as?? ?derliaus apdirbimas po?? ?lepas tuai?? ??? ?? ???????? ?post-recoltare?? ??????? ??????? ???????????????????? ?????????????? ?????????????????? ?sau thu ho?ch?? ?????????????????? ?zangemva kwenkathi yokuvuna?? ??? ? Frambuesa?? ??? ?raspberry raspberries?? ?framboos?? ?????????? ?????? ?frambo?? ?framboise?? ???????????? ???????????? ??? ?lampone?? ?malina?? ?framboesa?? ????????? ??? ?raspberry ???? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ? Fresa?? ?frutilla?? ?strawberry strawberries?? ?aarbei?? ??????????? ????? ??? ?fraise?? ?????????? ????????????? ?aardbei?? ?fragola?? ?truskawka?? ?morango?? ??????????? ??ilek?? ???????????? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ? Ar?ndano?? ??? ?blueberries blueberry?? ?ys?? ?????? ????? ??? ?myrtille?? ?????? ???????????? ??????????? ?bosbes?? ?mirtillo?? ?bor?wka?? ?mirtilo?? ?????????? ?yabanmersini?? ?????????? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ????