Collective strategy needed to boost veg

The challenge of feeding a rapidly growing global population while at the same time promoting an increase in vegetable consumption was described as an “opportunity for the sector” at this week’s European Vegetable Strategies conference in Brussels, Belgium.

Wilco van den Berg, manager of market analysis at Dutch group Fresh Produce Centre, revealed that demand was expected to rise by 50 per cent in the next 20 years.

The main task, he said, was to persuade consumers to eat more vegetables, and he recommended a collective communication strategy to promote changes in consumer behaviour.

Projects in the Netherlands such as Veggie Time and Canteen Change have had an impact, he said, as has forming alliances with other parties, including health care professionals.

“We also need to make vegetables more available, at nurseries, in the workplace, in schools, in restaurants,” he said. “Introducing people to vegetables early in their life is a stepping stone to a healthy lifestyle.”