Soaring energy bills have left the EU horticultural sector struggling to save its produce just as the harvest season begins, with some debating whether to simply let their crops rot – and whether to continue growing at all in the future.

Although the debate at EU level mostly centres on the dairy and cereal sectors, the fruit and vegetable sector remains “crucial for EU food security”, according to Luc Vanoirbeek, chair of the Fruit and Vegetables Working Party at the EU farmers' association COPA-COGECA.

“Many people depend on this sector, but we have to survive this year,” he told EURACTIV, stressing that while production costs have risen to record highs, product prices “are not following”.

Energy bills in this sector have increased by as much as 12 times, with one Belgian farmer reporting that his annual bill of 3,000 euros has risen to more than 50,000 euros this year.

According to Luc Vanoirbeek, rising energy costs are having a threefold impact.

In terms of production, it has significantly affected greenhouse production systems and the costs of raw materials, such as fertiliser. This, combined with a record heatwave this summer, has led to a 20% drop in volumes for some products, such as tomatoes. But now that the harvest season for the EU's 12 million tonnes of apples and 2 million tonnes of pears is in full swing, growers are facing another problem – the effective storage of this fruit.

“People have to decide what to do next week – the pears have been harvested and they need to be stored, otherwise they are lost,” Luc Vanoirbeek told EURACTIV.

From the moment fruit or vegetables are harvested, they must be kept in cool storage to prevent spoilage, but this consumes a lot of energy. Following months of hardship, growers have been faced with difficult choices, and some have used social media to highlight the gravity of their situation.

“Next week we will have to decide whether to continue harvesting at a loss, or let everything rot – apples, pears and the rest,” one farmer wrote on LinkedIn, posting a message titled “Chronicle of a death foretold”.

Already, up to a third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted worldwide, mainly due to inadequate storage solutions and inefficient supply chains. Meanwhile, this statement comes amid growing concerns over food security triggered by supply disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine. However, L. Vanoirbeek believes that food waste is not the solution. “I have heard farmers saying that they no longer want to harvest, but that is not an alternative,” he stressed.

Smart, sharp solutions

Instead, L. Vanoirbeek is pinning his hopes for saving the harvest on some innovative solutions, including shorter, smarter cooling systems, followed by faster distribution – but this is also being hindered by supply chain disruptions.

“We will have to try to sell it immediately at current prices – but on the other hand, we see that sales and marketing are currently very difficult, given the disrupted export flows,” he said.

For example, some European Union member states, such as Poland, have had a bountiful apple harvest this year. In normal circumstances, a large part of it would be exported to neighbouring Ukraine and Belarus, but this year it will have to find a place on the domestic EU market.

“Basically, we are in a situation where costs are rising, exports are falling, but consumption is decreasing,” concludes Luc Vanoirbeek.

A future full of concerns

Although some countries, such as Belgium, have offered minor financial assistance to small producers, according to L. Vanoirbeek, this is mostly “symbolic”. He warned that while the sector is currently in crisis, the real problems lie in the future.

“At the moment, many [producers] have long-term contracts until 2023-2024, so they have not yet felt this price surge,” he said. But looking ahead, many are rethinking their future in the sector.

“They are now thinking about what they will do in the next production season, whether they will continue growing or not,” Luc Vanoirbeek, chair of the Fruit and Vegetables Working Party at the EU farmers' association COPA-COGECA, pointed out, stressing that unlike earlier moments of hardship, “there is no light at the end of the tunnel”.