2020 is nearly in the books. What about next year?
A new poll question I posed to the LinkedIn Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group put it this way:
What will be the number one fresh produce story of 2021?
With 52 responses so far, the results are:
- Rapid recovery from pandemic: 62%
- Economic slump worsens: 19%
- Other 19%
Here is a comment that appears to be representative of the sentiment:
- “Hopefully once we have full distribution of a vaccine and we start to see the service sector start to recover. Business travel resume. I think we will see a strong rebound.”
While we wrap up our thoughts about 2020, I have included charts on major commodities to compare this year with 2019 and 2018. On nearly every commodity, you can see the market react at the start of the pandemic.
What kind of supply and market adjustments will we see in 2021?
As another commenter said, “Mass dumpings of produce whilst some hit record profits.”
That may not be far off....
