ANAHEIM, Calif. — If your business hasn’t considered a broad range of export markets, you could be missing a trillion-dollar opportunity.
That’s what Matt Tripodi, U.S. government and trade relations manager for Euromonitor International Inc., said Oct. 26 during “The New Global Supermarket: Open For Business” workship session at Fresh Summit 2012.
Pamela RiemenschneiderDominick Hernandez, left, of Arizona State University and PMA's Foundation for Industry Talent student asks a question of Matt Tripodi, U.S. government and trade relations manager for Euromonitor International during a business session at the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit in Anaheim on Oct. 26. The Asia Pacific region in particular shows some of the strongest potential for growth, Tripodi said, with the increase in disposable income expected to be spent primarily on food.
“Business is going to get a lot more exciting in those markets,” Tripodi said.
And, Tripodi said, the markets that consume the most fresh food are expected to have the fastest growth over the next few decade. Data suggests that by 2016, China and India will be consuming half the world’s fresh food.
Most fresh fruits and vegetables are showing growth in volume and sales over the past few years, and are expected to continue growing. Tripodi highlighted a list of items with greater than 80% growth from 2000 to 2010.
Those include tomatoes, watermelons, pineapples, chilis, mangoes, avocados, mushrooms and sweet potatoes.
Markets showing some of the fastest growth include Kazakhstan, Ukraine, China, Brazil, Peru and Egypt.
This doesn’t mean exporters should forget about the potential for well-developed countries.
“I’m not saying get out of Western Europe — that would be ridiculous,” Tripodi said.
But generally speaking, Tripodi said, the more global markets a company is in now, the better their position for expanding those markets when consumers are hungry for more fresh food.
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