EUROPE LOVES GREEN IN MIDDLE EAST

For the EU, 2020 saw around 429.4 million € of exports of fruit and vegetables to the Middle East region: United Arab of Emirates, Saudi Arabia/Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman. The long run should see the current promotion drive pave the way for European companies to ramp up capacity to export even more fruit and vegetables to this market of abundant potential. 
The key lever behind this program centers on a promotion-first approach that underpins the objectives of the European Green Deal to encourage sustainable European production methods. Such efforts also help safeguard a ‘farm to fork’ strategy that accelerates our transition to a healthy, quality and sustainable food system. A common signature reflecting the central precept of this "Europe Loves Green" program will be used. The program will provide 4,365,822 contact opportunities over the three years. The initiatives on the table involve getting together with professionals and consumers to familiarize them with and extol the virtues of European fresh fruit and vegetables. The objectives of these activities are to sensitize 105,255 people out of 318,954 affected to the messages developed throughout the campaign directly in key areas where European products are promoted. The next step will be to boost incoming exports there, targeting a rise from 25.2 to 42.4 million € for French fruit and vegetable exports by the end of the campaign. This, in turn, will see the value of Europe-wide exports boosted from 429.4 to 475.3 million €. 
The initiatives envisaged are geared towards changing the eating habits of the locals in the area and boosting the volume of fresh fruit and vegetables consumed. The messages will be disseminated to the target groups For the European Union, the Middle East zone represents an export market of nearly 546 million euros of fruit & vegetables. This promotion program should enable European companies to increase their capacity to export their fruit & vegetables in this high potential market.