Regional Fruits and Vegetables Becoming Scarcer

2024 was the second weakest harvest year for fruit in the past ten years. This is according to a press release from the Federal Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producers' Organizations. The cause is the increasingly extreme climatic fluctuations. The total amount of fruit harvested in 2024 amounted to 1.08 million tons. The only year with a weaker harvest was 2017. This was also reflected in slightly higher prices in supermarkets.

Poor Harvest of Fruits and Vegetables in 2024

One of the biggest challenges for the 2024 fruit harvest was the late frost in late April. It caused nationwide freezing of blossoms and buds, especially on apple trees, plum trees, and berry bushes, preventing these plants from developing fruit. Farmers in East Germany were hit the hardest. However, severe thunderstorms with rain and sometimes hail in the spring and summer also damaged not only the fruit harvest but also the vegetable crops. The field vegetable harvest in 2024 totaled 3.68 million tons, about 1% less than the previous year. Even in greenhouse cultivation, the harvest decreased despite higher temperatures due to reduced sunlight.

Will the Poor Fruit and Vegetable Harvest Continue in 2025?

How the 2025 fruit and vegetable harvest will turn out depends entirely on the weather. It will only be possible to make initial predictions in the spring, once the risk of late frost has passed. However, both farmers and consumers can only hope for a good year, as the small harvests of the previous year barely covered production costs. A second poor harvest year in a row would likely lead to noticeably higher prices for consumers. Prices are also affected by the quality and shelf life of the over-wintered produce from last year, which is currently still being monitored.