Cultivated mushroom production in Russia has been growing steadily in recent years. Production increased by 80.2% to 86,300 tons in 2020. This is nine times higher than in 2016 (9,700 tons).
Despite China’s imports of fresh produce falling y-o-y in volume terms in 2020, they were up in value, according to Chinese customs data. China imported 5.3 million tons of fresh fruit in 2020, with bananas leading the way (1.7 million tons; 32%). Next came dragon fruit (618,000 tons), followed by durian (575,000 tons), mangos (379,000) and longans (347,000 tons).
On the back of the pandemic, Peru exported 37% more citrus in 2020 than in 2019, with shipments reaching 244,000 tons, worth US$262 million, according to data released by the country’s Foreign Trade Research and Development Institute (Idexcam).
In a statement, Idexcam said: “There is a growing demand for citrus, especially mandarins, due to their antioxidant properties and high content of vitamin C which strengthens the immune system, creating a rebound of global commercialisation.”
UK retailer Morrison’s has announced a 50.7% fall in profits to £201 million for the year to January 31. The plummeting profits are mainly due to the additional £290 million in costs linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. A large contributor is an increase in staff absences, as well as the £230 million impact of handing its business rates relief back to the Treasury.
The UK organic market grew 12.6% in 2020 and is now worth £2.8 billion, according to Soil Association Certification’s Organic Market Report 2021. This is the highest growth rate seen in 15 years, with over £50 million per week spent on organic food and drink during 2020.
Italian consumers’ association Altroconsumo has announced its retail awards for 2020/21. Despar was the winner in the supermarket category, while Esselunga was recognised in the hypermarkets & superstores category, and Eurospin was the winner in the discount supermarkets category. In the online retail category, Coop was the winner among the supermarkets, and Esselunga won once again the hypermarket & superstore category.
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