There was a time when the European Union was a viable export market for US fresh produce. Apples, citrus, grapefruit and even iceberg lettuce were all in relatively high demand on a seasonal basis each year, and US grower-shippers eagerly sought out European importers to partner with for distribution.
Those days are now long gone save for a few exceptions, but there is now a fresh newcomer from America that has started to capture the fancy of European consumers.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, exports of US-grown sweet potatoes have rocketed between 2003 and 2011: from 6,300 tonnes to nearly 43,000 tonnes. The UK is by far and away the largest market for these sweet potatoes at more than 31,200 tonnes in 2011, but the European continent is evidently acquiring a taste for the beta keratin-rich tuber; imports through Rotterdam increased by 155 per cent last year to nearly 9,400 tonnes.
Vick Family Farms is one of several North Carolina grower-shippers tapping into Europe’s surging demand for sweet potatoes. According to managing partner Charlotte Vick-Ferrell, Europe’s emergence in the last decade to become their fastest-growing market has been a pleasant surprise.
“Ten years ago we exhibited at a food trade show in London as part of the US pavilion and practically no one we talked to knew what a sweet potato was,” says Vick-Ferrell. “It took us five years to develop our first customer and, over the last five years, shipments have really taken off.”
See the October issue of Eurofruit for the full story
No comments yet