"The trade balance for the food and drink sector has never been so highly positive in the last 10 years"
Jesús Serafín Pérez presides since 2009 FoodDrinkEurope, the organization representing the European food and drink industry, the largest industrial sector of the European Union. The sector has 286.000 enterprises employing direct to 4.2 million people, with a business volume of more than 1,000 billion euros and a trade balance of 23 billion euros. Serafín Pérez speaks of the strengths and the composition of the sector, examines the evolution of its foreign trade and reveals the main future challenges and opportunities.
- What is the dimension of the food and beverage industry in Europe?
The food and drink industry is the largest manufacturing sector in the EU, with a turnover of more than 1000 billion Euro, as well as the leading employer with 4.2 million employees. It is also the first manufacturing industry in terms of turnover. The food and drink industry is therefore a very important economic player.
- Did the main economic trends of food and drink industry increase in 2014?
We do not yet have figures for the whole of 2014. Indicators for the first and second quarters show a positive trend for production and employment, even if the growth rates remain low.
The economic trends are positive since 2012 with an increase of 3,1% in terms of turnover and an increase in employment of 0,4% compared to 2011. Our industry has therefore remained fairly stable and has proven resilient, even in times of economic downturn.
- Is the EU food and drink industry diverse? What are the main sectors?
The EU food and drink industry is extremely varied, both in terms of size of the companies and in terms of the types of products it manufactures. For instance, in FoodDrinkEurope, we bring together 25 different sectors at European level. The top 5 sectors in the industry (bakery and farinaceous products, meat sector, dairy products, drinks and ‘various food products’ category) represent 75% of the total turnover and more than four fifths of the total number of employees and companies.
- What was the evolution of imports and exports in 2014?
Looking at figures for 2012, our industry hit a record trade surplus of 23 billion Euro. During 2012, EU food and drinks exports increased by 13.2% compared to 2011, while imports remained almost unchanged. The trade balance for the food and drink sector has never been so highly positive in the last 10 years.
Our exports have particularly increased towards China, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Japan, where the increase has been around 16%, except for China, where it hit 30%. In terms of imports, the EU mostly deals with Brazil, Argentina, the US and Switzerland, with China, Indonesia Thailand and Turkey still in the top 9.
In parallel, however, there will clearly be a difference in 2014 compared to previous years, because of the Russian ban on imports of food from countries which had supported the Ukraine. Russia was the second largest export market for our products, just behind the United States, and the ban has forced our producers to try and find new markets, leaving some of them in a very difficult situation.
- What are the opportunities to grow in the future?
We will have to feed 9 billion people in 2050. It is both a challenge and an opportunity. The demand in food supplies will increase by 70% between now and then, we have to deliver. In parallel, we will have to meet the demand for water, which will increase by 40% by 2030, as will the demand for freight transport and energy.
- What does the manufacture industry request to the technology and machinery industry in order to innovate?
We need improved technology for food analysis, manufacture, storage; we also would like marketing with concise and critical synopses of important advances from across the full spectrum of food research. This includes raw material processing to food engineering, novel “mild” processing methods, automation, quality control and assurance, microbiological safety challenges, advances in preservation and packaging technologies and sensory analysis.
- How can tecnofood sector help the manufacture industry to satisfy the consumption demands?
Consumers call for food of high sensory quality at reasonable prices. Consumer knowledge and understanding of new technologies is essential if they are to accept them afterwards. We therefore need to explain the benefits to consumer rather than the benefits to the industry. Finally, we must make sure that we always aim for optimum sustainability and optimum efficiency (economic, technological and ecological).
- The EU food and drink industry has a lower R&D investment level compared to others. What is doing FoodDrinkEurope to support the research and the innovation?
It is true that the EU has lower levels of R&D investments than Japan (the highest) or the US (the second highest). At the same time, we have been able to sustain our level of R&D over the last couple of years, which is already positive. And it must be noted that the Northern part of Europe has a higher level of investment than the Southern part.
January articles Bta. News
- Interview with Jesús Serafín, FoodDrinkEurope CEO
- Report: Science charts a more technological future for the food industry
Interested in Alimentaria Foodtech?
Contact us
If you want to exhibit:
T.
M.
If you want to visit:
T.
M.