Agricultural cooperatives are 'crucial' for farmers to innovative, add value to produce and follow consumers trends, a European cooperative has said at a Business Forum.
Up against increasing challenges and low growth markets across Europe, agricultural cooperative Copa and Cogeca said the need for cooperatives to be innovative is more important than ever.
Mr Magnusson, Cogeca President, said at Cogecas' Business Forum: "We face many challenges today ranging from climate change, volatile markets, increasing consumer demands, investment in new products, producing more with less to meet growing food demand."
"To meet these, it’s more important than ever for the cooperative to add value to their products to respond to consumers demands. New, innovative products that respond to short and long term consumer trends need to be developed in order to penetrate the market. It’s also important to find new export markets for quality produce", he added.
Numerous agricultural cooperatives have underlined the need to position and differentiate the product in the market, with a lot of attention on innovative packaging, labelling, branding, quality and good production standards.
Mr Magnusson stated that good planning is also important, with an emphasis on analysis of market risks. One successful example cited involved the creation of a ready-made salad which became successful in France. The product then made its way into the UK and Spanish markets.
"These discussions are part of on-going work towards cooperative development across Europe. Building networks is part of this process," Mr Magnusson concluded.
