Further evidence of the reorientation of Dutch fresh produce exports from west to east has come from the latest figures to be released by the Dutch Horticulture Production Board.
Latest Defra figures have confirmed the differing fortunes of Britain's fruit and vegetable growers, with fruit showing continuing strong returns while those from vegetables have slipped back.
Morrisons has said it will not be drawn into a price war with its rivals after it announced a one per cent drop in sales for the first quarter of the year - its first quarterly fall since 2005.
The global trade in potatoes rose by more than 11 per cent in value to £6.8bn last year, according to the World Potato Markets report.
UK imports of fresh produce from the Netherlands fell 16 per cent in the first two months of this year, to 18,000 tonnes.
The euro and the internal European market have significantly benefited the Dutch fresh produce sector, allowing it to become the world's largest vegetable exporter, according to Dutch fresh produce supplier the Greenery.
Consumption of fruit in the Netherlands fell by 3.5 per cent last year, with strawberries and bananas the only fruit in the top 10 to see a rise.
China has overtaken the USA to become the world's largest grocery and food retail market, according to market research firm IGD.
Two food market analysts have pointed out the transformation that Asia's rapidly growing middle class is bringing to the global fresh produce market.
Britain's organic produce sector continued to contract in 2011, making it the global odd man out, Soil Association chief executive Helen Browning told its conference last week.
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