Changing demand is reshaping production as well

Budapest was the host of the COPA and COGECA congress between 1 and 3 October in 2012. One of the topics discussed was better utilisation of opportunities in bioeconomics.

Participants agreed that innovation and research results have to find their way into production. Another important task is to make farming more attractive to young people. Farmers have to be aided in establishing cooperations and associations, in order to put them in a better position in price negotiations. By providing the logistics background, standardising the distribution network and promoting a higher level of processing, farmers will have better chances to enter the market. There is great production potential in Europe and European farmers are using cutting-edge technology, but the production environment is somewhat overregulated in comparison to that of competitors. Europe’s agricultural policy needs to be more calculable, proportionate and coherent. Carrefour’s commercial director Jérome Bédier spoke about how large shopping malls are losing ground and consumer demand is increasing for small neighbourhood shops. He told that today’s consumers think twice before buying something and they are interested in products about which they have reliable information. Demand for organic, branded and regional products is growing. Online retail is also expanding and today nearly 700,000 consumers are buying food online. Conclusion: actors in the sector have to start a dialogue with one another, problems have to be shared, the need for sectoral organisation is increasing and consumer confidence can be gained and preserved with quality, origin and traceability.