European fresh produce association Freshfel released its latest findings in fruit and vegetable consumption trends, which show a considerable increase over the last five years, although consumption remains below minimum daily recommended intake.

According to Freshfel’s Consumption Monitor, consumption stands at 363 grams of fresh fruit and vegetables per capita per day across member states.

It represents an increase of 5.1% compared to the previous five years (2013-2017) and halts previous consumption stagnation.

This increase can be attributed to a 9.5 percent rise in fresh fruit consumption to 212 grams per capita per day.

This rise compensated for a slight overall decrease in vegetable consumption to 152 grams per capita per day.

The increase in EU consumption coincides with increased sector efforts to raise awareness of the importance of fresh produce consumption over the last few years, according to a press release.

“The findings of Freshfel Europe’s 2020 Consumption Monitor are highly encouraging and clearly illustrate that the sector’s heightened efforts to boost consumption above the WHO recommended minimum of 400g per capita per day are being paid off,” Philippe Binard, general delegate of Freshfel said.

“While we will continue to observe the stability of this recovery, we need to investigate this new discrepancy between fruit and vegetable consumption.”

“The fresh fruit and vegetable sector must capitalize on 2021 being the UN International Year of Fruits and Vegetables (IYFV),” Binard said.

Alongside its longstanding online #FruitVeg4You campaign, this year Freshfel is conducting a specific campaign, #SpeakUp4FruitVeg, to show support for the sector and to celebrate the IYFV.

The 143-page Freshfel Europe 2020 Consumption Monitor consists of three parts that analyze data from 2013-2018.

The first part consists of the total gross supply of fruit and vegetables in the EU-28, including trends in production, exports and imports of fruit and vegetables.

The second and third parts are a comparative review of consumption trends across the EU-28, and a review of the total net supply and trends of exports and imports of fruit and vegetables in the EU-28, respectively.