In 2025, the fruit and vegetable sector achieved record exports of €13 billion between fresh and processed products, with growth also in consumption and value, but it remains exposed to significant imbalances along the supply chain and international competition that jeopardizes its economic sustainability. This is the message launched by Coldiretti and Filiera Italia at Fruit Logistica in Berlin during the discussion on the future of POs and APOs in the new European scenario. In 2025, Italian household consumption reached 2.68 million tons (+4% on 2024) for a total expenditure of €6.95 billion (+8%). According to Ismea, the sector is worth around €17 billion and represents about 28% of the value of national agricultural production.
These figures confirm the strategic role of the sector, but raise a central issue: the redistribution of value to farmers – explains Coldiretti Treviso – It is not enough to export more if imports then increase by double digits in value, as this means that your production capacity is gradually being eroded.
THE REAL ISSUE IS THE LACK OF RECIPROCITY
Here are the three fundamental requirements
There is only one problem: imported products are not subject to the same rules as Italian producers, who compete globally on equal terms and, with the same standards, win on all markets. We are entering a season of bilateral agreements that could be either opportunities or risks. If we want to turn them into tools for growth, then the three requirements we have requested and which the Italian government has conveyed to Brussels can no longer be postponed: 1. a ban on the importation of any product treated with substances banned in Europe; 2. a significant increase in import controls, the inadequacy of which has caused dramatic damage to the fruit and vegetable sector, see Xylella; 3. mandatory indication of origin on all products and the fight against fraud, which, especially in the fruit and vegetable sector, leads to products imported from third countries being passed off as Italian.
GREEN ONLY IF ACCOMPANIED BY INCOME
The sector is facing a double challenge, sustainability and innovation, which cannot remain slogans but must guarantee profitability – says Luigi Scordamaglia, Head of Markets, Internationalization, and European Policies at Coldiretti and CEO of Filiera Italia, present in Berlin – Over 40% of the EU’s agricultural value will be affected by environmental requirements, and over 60% of CMO and RDP resources are already linked to green criteria. Sustainability is a competitive lever only if accompanied by income.
The case of fresh-cut produce is emblematic: a market worth over €1 billion in 2024, but in structural crisis, with falling volumes and margins due to fragmentation and spot trading with large-scale retailers. The position of Coldiretti and Filiera Italia is clear: strengthen producer organizations, bring together the genuine ones, shift from volume to value, build stable supply chains, and demand reciprocity in the rules. Without a level playing field, sustainability and innovation remain on paper, and one of the pillars of Italian and European agri-food is weakened.
