Red beets in ready-to-eat products

 

Italy's Zanarini is perfectly capable of supplying raw red beets uninterruptedly to the country's main processing plants. "But for several years we have also started to supply European companies through real delivery programs. We can handle the increasing demand thanks to a good and long-term cooperation with a network of suppliers," said Matteo Zanarini, owner of Zanarini Agromarketing e Consulting. 

 

 

According to Eurostat data, Poland is currently the largest European producer of beet. In 2021, the country harvested 239,000 tons. Next comes France with 177,320 tons, which was 40,000 tons more than in 2020. Below is the data of European production.

 

COUNTRY	2019	2020	2021
POLAND	280,90	260.90	239,00
FRANCE	152,74	134,74	177,32
GERMANY	95,67	99,44	110,39
LITHUANIA	50,63	54,15	57,71
NETHERLANDS	37,61	38,08	44,72
ITALY	17,43	15,34	14,23

 

In Italy, over the past three years (2019-2020-2021), yields have experienced a gradual decline of about 20%. "This trend is confirmed by our partners and we presume that a further contraction of Italian red beet crops may also occur this year, as the lack of rain seems to have had a negative effect on growth," added Zanarini. 

 

 

As for the origin of the product in the EU market, it seems that the bulk is of European origin. According to Farmers Weekly (04/13/22), after the Brexit, European buyers are said to have drastically reduced the purchase of British raw materials in favor of product from the EU. Large quantities of British red beets thus remained unsold. 

 

"We have witnessed a gradual increase in demand from the processing industry for EU-origin red beets. This was especially noticeable during 2020/21. Therefore, we are now making cultivation plans to meet our customers' needs at any time of the year," explained Zanarini.

 

 

The increased demand for beet goes hand in hand with increased consumer interest in ready-to-eat products. According to data from the Nielsen market research firm, sales of this product segment experienced a 6.1% increase in the first half of 2022 compared to the first half of 2021 (7.5 million tons vs. 7 million tons). 

 

Moreover, despite inflation, consumption of plant-based ready meals increased 58.3% in the first half of 2022 compared to four years ago, figures from the Coop 2022 report on Italian consumption show.

 

Matteo Zanarini 

 

"We had already planned an expansion of acreage last year, assuming a likely increase in the commodity market. Currently, this increase seems to be offset by the lagging yield, but we assure all our customers that they can count on last season's quantities," concluded the manager. 

 

For more information:
Zanarini srl 
Via G. Caboto 16, 40017
San G. in Persiceto (BO) Italy
+39 051 826164
self@zanarini.com  
www.zanarini.com