Portugal Fresh Books a Record €2.7 Million for International Promotion Through 2027 — Sixteen-Year-Old Fruit-and-Veg Trade Body Steps Up Pace as Sector Closes 2024 at €2.5 Billion in Exports

Portugal Fresh — Associação para a Promoção das Frutas, Legumes e Flores, the trade body that groups the country's fresh-produce exporters, has approved a €2.7 million strategic plan running through 2027, the largest internationalisation envelope in its sixteen-year history. The package was signed off in late April and disclosed by Jornal de Negócios on Friday. It is built on a single hypothesis: that the sector's record export run is worth defending with money rather than coasted on.

Where the Sector Stands

The 2024 trade numbers, the most recent full-year set, frame why the trade body is willing to triple its previous promotional budget. Portuguese exports of fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers reached €2.5 billion in 2024, a 7.5% increase on 2023 and the fourth consecutive record year. The first half of 2025 then ran +9.2% to €1.288 billion, putting the sector on track for another all-time high when the full-year figures land in the summer.

The geographic mix is heavily Iberian-Continental. The European Union absorbs 81% of Portuguese fresh-produce exports by value. Spain alone takes 37.6% — making it by far the single largest customer — followed by France (13%), the Netherlands (9%), Germany (7.9%) and the United Kingdom (6.8%). The remaining 19% of trade goes outside Europe, principally to Brazil, the United States, Canada and the Gulf.

What the €2.7 Million Buys

Portugal Fresh did not publish a line-item breakdown, but the association's standard playbook is well-documented. The instruments it has used in past years — and that the new envelope is expected to scale — include: Portuguese pavilions at the four anchor produce trade fairs (Fruit Logistica in Berlin, Fruit Attraction in Madrid, Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong, and Gulfood in Dubai); inbound buyer missions for retailers and wholesalers from priority markets; targeted media campaigns in the destination countries; varietal-development consortia for berries, citrus and stone fruit; and shared market-intelligence subscriptions for member firms that could not justify the cost individually.

The association describes the plan as the "most ambitious" in its history and frames it as a structural step "to unite the sector around a common objective: to promote the best that Portugal has to offer both at home and abroad". The lever is straightforward — the sector is fragmented across hundreds of producers, and only a collective vehicle of this scale can buy stand space, ad inventory and trade-mission slots at the volume that moves the needle for Portuguese branding.

The Spain Question

The 37.6% Spain share is both the strongest and the most exposed plank of the export book. Spanish supermarket buyers are price-sensitive, weather-driven, and increasingly source-shifting in real time as Moroccan and Andalusian production fluctuates with drought. Portugal Fresh's stated priority for the new plan period is to push the non-Spanish share of exports up, particularly in Germany and the Nordics, where Portuguese berries and stone fruit have the strongest year-on-year growth but the lowest absolute volumes. The Brazil channel — where Portuguese pears, apples and wines have brand traction — is also flagged for reinforcement, particularly with the Lula visit and the renewed CPLP trade emphasis.

Public Co-Funding

The association has historically blended its own member contributions with co-funding from Portugal 2030 programmes (formerly Portugal 2020) and the EU agricultural promotion budget. Industry sources expect a similar mix this cycle, which would imply a total spend of meaningfully more than €2.7 million once public matching is factored in. The numbers will become clearer at the next trade-body assembly later in 2026.

Sources: Jornal de Negócios ("Portugal Fresh vai investir recorde de 2,7 milhões na internacionalização até 2027", 24 April 2026); RTP and Jornal de Negócios on the 2024 €2.5 billion export figure; Observador on the H1 2025 +9.2% growth; Portugal Fresh association communications and historical trade-fair calendar.