A qualitative analysis on trends in fruit consumption in four European countries

Abstract The aim of this paper is to present future fruit consumption trends in four European countries using expert interviews. Experts from both outside and within the food fruit sector in Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain were asked to elaborate on the trend factors that have influenced fruit consumption in the past and on the trend factors that are expected to have an impact in the future. Furthermore, they were asked to draw possible future scenarios on fruit consumption. As expected, the most important past trend factor that emerged in all countries was the importance of people¿s health in relation to fruit consumption. Besides the health trend, which is expected to become even more important, convenience is also indicated as an important determinant of fruit consumption in the future. In addition, future scenarios drawn by the experts were concerned with health aspects, convenience and a decreasing impact of economic factors. Moreover, all experts predicted that future fruit consumption in Europe will increase significantly.