Supply Chain Analysis of Fresh Fruitand Vegetables in Germany

With a population of 82.5 million, the German market is the largest in the EU and therefore of specialinterest for the trade partners. Despite an unsatisfying economic development in the last years (lowestGDP growth in the EU and rising unemployment, see Table 9 in the annex) Germany is still a veryattractive market with well funded consumers. Although agriculture has a small and decliningcontribution to the country’s gross domestic product, in the wider definition of the agribusiness, it is stillone of the most important sectors with regard to turnover and employment. Taking consumers’expenditure for food as a proxy for the total turnover of the agribusiness yields a figure of 240 billion €in 2003, nearly as much as the turnover of the car industry in Germany. In total, 4.5 million people areemployed in the agribusiness, which is 11.6% of Germany’s total labour force...