Euromonitor International has published data on the global fresh food market in 2015, which experienced a 2% volume growth over 2014 to reach 2.2 billion tons. Overall growth was down from the 3% posted in the previous year, but was still pretty much in line with a CAGR of 2.5% achieved over the 2010–2015 review period.
Middle East and Africa led the regional growth with a near 4% volume increase in 2015. Growing disposable incomes and health awareness particularly boosted sales of fresh fruits, meat, and eggs in the Middle East and Africa. Fresh food sales were most dynamic in the United Arab Emirates (7% growth), Egypt (5%), Morocco (3%), and South Africa (3%) in 2015.
Despite the decelerating Chinese market, Asia Pacific showed the second highest growth rate with 3%. The region has the highest absolute year-on-year population increase and the highest per capita consumption in the world. China and India contributed 73% of the absolute fresh food global volume gain of 43.4 million tons in 2015.
By contrast, the highly developed markets of Western Europe and North America remained sluggish, with volume growth under 1%, due to busy lifestyles, a high proportion of single living, and stronger consumer preferences for the convenience and “added value” nature of packaged/processed food.
Globally, the pulse category was the best performer in 2015, having increased by 4% in volume terms. Pulses provide an affordable source of protein and are particularly important across developing and emerging markets. The success of pulses is largely attributed to 5% growth in India, where some 360 million vegetarians rely heavily on pulses for dietary protein. India alone accounted for 56% of global fresh pulse volume sales, totaling 51 million tons in 2015.
On the global level, overall meat consumption grew by 2% in volume terms in 2015. Demand for meat has been driven by emerging markets, where increased prosperity and rising populations resulted in growing consumption of relatively expensive meat. The Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific performed most dynamically, recording growth of 4% and 3%, respectively, and were the only two regions where beef and veal recorded growth.
At the same time, in Western Europe meat in general and beef and veal in particular continued to decline—by 0.3% and 1%, respectively—amidst mounting health concerns linking red meat to cardiovascular disorders and colon cancer. In the United States, beef and veal contracted by a further 3% as consumers switched to leaner types of meat—pork (8% growth) and poultry (5%).
According to Euromonitor International’s latest estimates, global fresh food sales are expected to grow by 13% over the 2015–2020 forecast period, adding some 280.5 million tons in absolute volume terms by 2020. Most of this rise will be seen in the emerging markets of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America, where growing populations will support volume growth.
