To those of you braving the economic storm out there, the first thing to say is 'Hold on to your hats'. Buffeted on all sides by current economic conditions – reduced spending, falling prices, jittery stock markets – it would be very easy indeed for every drop of confidence built up within the fresh produce sector over the past few years simply to ebb away.

But let's not get carried away by talk of recession. In many ways, the fresh produce business is a steady ship on a rough sea. This year is most likely going to bring with it some fairly troublesome headwinds, yet it is also fair to say that the industry remains in pretty good shape. All of the time and hard work invested in things like product quality, varietal development, food safety, marketing, logistics and packaging, not to mention corporate, social and environmental responsibility – none of this is going to unravel overnight.

It's clear prices are falling and that discounting is here to stay. But retailers in Europe need to know that quality and safety still comes at a certain price. While it's tempting for suppliers to cut costs, especially with retailers demanding lower and lower prices, the trade needs to be certain of maintaining and improving on the existing standards.

Discounting is likely to define the retail landscape for years to come across parts of Europe worst hit by the recession. Premium brands are still hanging in there, but the days when charging E5/kg for loose apples (as Whole Foods did in London) was seen as a viable enterprise are, for the moment at least, behind us.

The good news is, consumption itself doesn't appear to be falling dramatically. In fact, I was told last month that the perishables reefer sector is the only area of the shipping trade managing to stay afloat at present. As the economic pressure sends prices downwards, the importance of promoting and marketing fresh produce, especially to consumers, has become greater than ever.

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