Mike Knowles

Managing Director at Eurofruit

Fresh produce industry expert and MD of Fruitnet Europe, Watching and analysing trends and #freshideas in the fruit and veg business 🍎🍊🍌🥦🫐🍇

Featured in: Favicon

fruitnet.com

linkedin.com Favicon

medium.com Favicon

thestar.com Favicon

lfpress.com Favicon

express.co.uk

Articles

Hein Deprez prepares to buy back Greenyard

1 week ago | fruitnet.com | Mike Knowles

Board and shareholders back plan to delist company and sell it to founder’s new family business GardenHein Deprez is set to regain ownership of GreenyardBelgian fresh produce company Greenyard will return to private ownership under its founder Hein Deprez and his family, assuming a plan to delist the company and buy out other shareholders goes ahead.
New European berry marketing campaign begins

3 weeks ago | fruitnet.com | Mike Knowles

A three-year promotional campaign to raise consumer demand for berries in the EU has begun, led by by Dutch organisation GroentenFruit Huis with support from a number of other industry groups. On 31 March 2025, GroentenFruit Huis general manager Richard Schouten and René van der Burg, director of DLN at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), signed a contract to kickstart the project.
Troubled times for Mexico’s avocado business as Trump tariff looms

3 weeks ago | fruitnet.com | Mike Knowles

President Trump’s tariff policy has left the Mexican avocado business under a dark cloud, with almost US$3bn in annual sales potentially at stake. Although the US administration appears to have allowed fruit and vegetables to be exempt from any duty payments under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the ability of Mexico’s exporters to ship avocados to the US without incurring a tariff charge depends on their ability as individual companies to comply with that agreement’s terms.
ICE: Italy could lose ‘billions’ as a result of US tariff

3 weeks ago | fruitnet.com | Mike Knowles

Matteo Zoppas and Francesco Lollobrigida at the Macfrut press conferenceItaly’s fresh produce exporters and machinery suppliers could face a significant loss of export revenue as a result of a new 20 per cent tariff on sales to the US. “Everyone has been reading the newspapers this morning and trying to analyse what it all means,” said Matteo Zoppas, president of Italian export agency ICE, during a press conference to promote the upcoming trade fair Macfrut in Rimini.
Interfel targets young adults with ‘vertical’ Jamais Trop advert

3 weeks ago | fruitnet.com | Mike Knowles

French produce industry association Interfel has aired the latest advert in its campaign Les fruits et légumes frais, c’est Jamais Trop (Fresh fruit and vegetables, it’s Never Too Much), as it bids to increase consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables among 25 to 34 year-olds.
APAL to share industry-wide quality performance data

3 weeks ago | fruitnet.com | Mike Knowles

Industry association Apple and Pear Australia (APAL) says it has taken a “significant step forward” with the roll-out of its Packhouse Performance Dashboard, a new system designed to provide growers and packers with better information about fruit quality across the industry. From 8 April, users of its APAL Quality Hub will gain access to a range of data within the dashboard, and the hope is that this extra insight will improve decision-making when it comes to harvesting and marketing.
California confirms 170,000-tonne avocado crop as new campaign begins

3 weeks ago | fruitnet.com | Mike Knowles

The California Avocado Commission (CAC) has launched its latest consumer advertising programme, as it prepares to support sales of a crop estimated to be around 170,000 tonnes this season. The marketing push continues with the message of last year’s campaign, which showcased California avocado groves and in particular the exceptional care that the state’s growers take when producing the fruit.
NZ apple and pear returns top NZ$1bn for first time

3 weeks ago | fruitnet.com | Mike Knowles

New Zealand’s apple and pear returns continued their recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle and topped NZ$1bn (€525.4mn) for the first time in 2024, according to new data released today. According to industry association NZ Apples & Pears (NZAPI), the business also made a combined economic contribution of NZ$2.5bn (€1.31bn) to the country’s economy during that period – up 27 per cent on the equivalent figure for 2023.
Vip puts apple growers at centre of new campaign

3 weeks ago | fruitnet.com | Mike Knowles

Vip, the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Cooperatives of Val Venosta, has put apple growers at the centre of its consumer marketing efforts this year. The group’s new Farmer Life promotion involves a number of producers, who have agreed to feature in images and video shared on social media, as well as in-store events, to forge new connections with the people who buy and eat the apples they grow.
Orsero signs new banana deal with Canarian group Cupalma

4 weeks ago | fruitnet.com | Mike Knowles

Mediterranean fresh produce distributor Orsero Group has strengthened its role in the Canary Islands banana trade with the signing of a new alliance between its Spanish division Hermanos Fernández Lopez and Cupalma, the largest cooperative and agricultural producer on the island of La Palma. The agreement further solidifies a bond between the two companies that has existed since 1988, and gives Cupalma’s more than 2,000 farmers access to Orsero’s Spanish infrastructure.