In the three months in which the population remained confined during the COVID-19 pandemic, people became more aware of the importance of diet and the consumption of healthier foods, such as fruits and vegetables, increased; a trend that has continued and is expected came to stay.
Producers from Algeria have become aware of this phenomenon and it is also being debated in this year's Fruit Logistica, which is currently being held online. Enrique de los Rios, the manager of the Unica Group cooperative, participated in an event in which the present and the future of the sector in the face of the pandemic were discussed. According to him, Almeria's agricultural sector should develop a strategy to raise awareness of the true value of its products.
“Now that consumers demand healthy, sustainable, and close-knit products, it is time for the sector to come together, creating collaborative marketing that makes us have a greater capacity to respond to the macro campaigns carried out by large ultra-processed product companies,” he stated.
Many of these ultra-processed products, which are harmful to people's health, present the positive benefits that healthy products such as fruit and vegetables have in their marketing campaigns so that the final consumers believe they are purchasing healthy and sustainable products. "The agricultural sector must articulate its marketing as a collective," said Enrique de los Rios.
“In general, there is no active marketing of healthy and fresh products (fruits and vegetables). This allows large ultra-processed food companies to roam freely. If we carry out cooperative campaigns of the products at first and then moved on to brand-focused campaigns, we will achieve great results,” he added.
Source: diariodealmeria.es