26th AECOC fruit and vegetables congress in Valencia

More than 700 of Spain's leading distributors and suppliers meet on 11 and 12 June in Valencia, a unique opportunity to network and find solutions to the challenges the sector is facing. Fresh produce is an important part of Spanish produce purchases, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Spanish households spend 9.10% of their household food and drink budget on fresh fruit. The average expenditure per person per year is €134.64, while per capita consumption stands at 92.45 kilos per person. Even so, consumption continues to fall every year, particularly since the rise in inflation.

How to recover consumption and gain more consumers

The congress is dedicated to providing solutions and tools to reverse the consumption trends observed throughout Europe. According to the Secretary General Philippe Binard from the European fruit and vegetable federation Freshfel Europe, he warned that 33% of European consumers never eat fruit and vegetables and it is among young people that consumption has dropped the most. In the case of Spain, young people consume 20% less fruit and vegetables than they did 10 years ago, and obesity has increased to reach 14% of their population. So more and more marketing campaigns are aimed directly at them, rather than at their parents or prescribers who do the shopping. The latest campaign of Plátano de Canarias, called “Join the fight!” - against bad nutrition such as snacking -, based on the launch of video games, is a good example.

Involve young people in ‘the fight’

The latest anti-obesity campaign #EatThemToDefeatThem also shows the trend. Bringing values and emotions to consumers is another successful strategy, as demonstrated by Anecoop's #RacionesDeVidaDelCampo campaigns and ‘LoveCalabaza!’. In just 4 years, the latter allowed Spanish consumption of bulk and fresh-cut pumpkin to increase by 20%. It was launched by a new national association which gathers nearly 80% of the Spanish growers of pumpkin. This initiative follows the example of the Spanish +Broccoli campaign, which for 17 years has been increasing the national consumption of this variety.

AECOC the leading retail and consumer association in Spain

AECOC is the first Spanish business association with more than 50,000 members, grouping together all retail chains, food and non-food suppliers and suppliers of FMCG products for the retail sector, as well as the logistics sector. It provides the primary agricultural sectors, including fruit and vegetables, with tools to improve product flows along the entire chain.