The “perfect storm” ahead?

During ICOP 2025 conference in Budapest COPA-COGECA general secretary Luc Vanoirbeek highlighted the growing challenges for the future of the fruit and vegetables sector. Climate change is already reshaping production through more frequent extreme weather events (droughts, floods, heatwaves, frosts), causing yield instability, crop losses, and uncertainty for long-term investments. Water scarcity, especially in Southern Europe, requires urgent investment in irrigation, resilient varieties, and insurance systems. Investments on emissions reduction, water management and new breeding techniques are essential to mitigate and adapt to growing climate adversity.

Plant protection under severe pressure

Climate change and globalization are increasing pest and disease risks, while EU regulations have reduced the availability of crop protection products. Slow approval processes and the withdrawal of pesticides have left farmers with an inadequate “toolbox,” increasing crop losses and economic risks. The article calls for reform of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 and a “One Europe–One zone” approach to ensure equal access to plant protection tools across Member States.

EU competitiveness undermined

Markets are strained by low and declining fruit and vegetable consumption, strong price sensitivity among consumers, and significant power imbalances between fragmented producers and concentrated retailers. Growers are highly dependent on retail chains and face sharply rising input costs (labor, energy, fertilizers, packaging, logistics, and machinery), which have increased by up to 40–50% since 2021. At the same time, competition from non-EU imports produced under lower labor and environmental standards undermines EU competitiveness.

Aging workforce and labor shortage

Societal expectations add further pressure. The sector faces acute labor shortages due to an aging workforce, reliance on seasonal labor, rising wages, and stricter labor rules. In addition, producers are burdened by complex and overlapping sustainability and quality schemes, leading to calls for harmonization, reduced red tape, and group-level certification rather than farm-level requirements. Policy and geopolitics also create growing uncertainty and reduced public funding.

Producer organizations the solution

Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Common Market Organisation (CMO) for fruit and vegetables has strengthened producer organizations. Addressing today’s growing challenges requires coordinated EU action, regulatory reform, stronger producer organizations, and a more balanced and resilient food chain.

For more information on the future solutions to the challenges of the fruit and vegetables sector, you can write here.