Greenyard warns of scarcity despite sales growth

Belgian fruit and vegetable processor Greenyard has achieved a 4.4 % sales growth last quarter, in which volumes rose despite “challenging weather conditions across Europe”. However, the company warns that the changing climate will cause scarcity and higher prices.

Climate change impact

In the first quarter of its broken financial year, Greenyard’s comparable net sales grew 4.4 % to 1.34 billion euros. The growth was mainly due to higher volumes (+ 2.8 %) and an increase in service sales (+ 1.0 %), while prices increased only slightly (+ 0.6 %).

In the Fresh segment, net sales rose by 3.8 % to 1.09 billion euros, thanks to a volume increase of 4.1 %. The German market was particularly competitive, resulting in prices there falling by 1 %. “Long Fresh” (frozen foods and preserves) grew by 7.1 %, though this time growth mainly came through price increases – those of last year are still having an effect.

CEO Francis Kint is proud of these results, especially in light of the volatile weather during the quarter: “Our industry is experiencing the impact of weather fluctuations firsthand. While growers and the industry are continuously adapting to these ever-changing dynamics of agriculture, also the customer will notice these effects in the future, amongst others through scarcity or higher prices.”