Browse Data and Analysis

Hotel, restaurant, and institutional (HRI) foodservice industry sales in the Netherlands rebounded in 2021 to almost $11.8 billion. This was an increase of 37 percent compared to 2020, which had been a dramatic year for the foodservice sector due to...

On June 10, 2022 a report by the Dutch government on objectives for reduction of nitrogen greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in rural areas was released. It was followed by weeks of farmers protests in the Netherlands. This report gives a chronological...

The turnover of the Dutch retail sector was valued at €45.1 billion ($47.4 billion) in 2021. The sector is relatively consolidated, with the two largest food retailers controlling 58 percent of the market. Consumers are increasingly looking for sustainable products, products that are healthy and nutritious, and convenience products, and, as a result, will continue to buy more plant-based foods.

In an evaluation of Dutch food policy published on March 29, 2022, Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Henk Staghouwer, proposed to explore the possibilities of introducing a meat tax in the Netherlands.

On June 10, 2022, the Dutch Minister for Nitrogen and Nature Policy, Ms. Christianne van der Wal, presented a plan laying out the objectives for Dutch nitrogen greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. The plan included both national and area-specific objectives .

The Netherlands is increasingly becoming one of Europe’s leading importers and exporters of seafood products. The United States was the Netherlands’ 15th largest foreign supplier of seafood in 2021. U.S. exports were dominated by frozen Alaskan Pollock (AP) which represented two-thirds of U.S. seafood trade to the Netherlands.

On April 22, 2022, the Dutch Minister for Climate and Energy, Rob Jetten, laid out the Dutch government’s policy for the application of biomass to the Dutch Parliament.

Since October 2021, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality has reported 37 findings of avian influenza at commercial poultry farms in the Netherlands. One of the most recent findings is in the municipality of Barneveld, which is considered the poultry capital of the Netherlands. Both the global Covid-19 crisis and local avian influenza outbreaks have had a negative effect on Dutch exports.

The turnover of the Dutch food processing industry for 2021 is forecast at $88 billion. Food companies that traditionally sell to HRI-foodservice outlets saw sales drop by roughly one-third due to the global pandemic.

In 2019, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport announced a new nutrition labeling scheme for the Netherlands. Nutri-Score, an invention commissioned by French public health agency Santé Publique, would become the new voluntary front-of-pack nutrition label of choice in the Netherlands.

On January 10, 2022, the King of the Netherlands swore in the new Dutch Cabinet of twenty Ministers and nine State Secretaries. The new Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality is Henk Staghouwer. He is member of the Christian Union (CU), a protestant party, with a left wing orientation on environmental issues.

On December 15, 2021, four Dutch political parties reached an accord, nine months after elections were held in the Netherlands. Some of the highest priority issues for the incoming government are combating climate change and tackling nitrogen emissions.