Primary commodities
The flour milling industry is the largest single food user of domestic wheat, rye and oats in Europe, transforming 47 million tonnes of grain each year to supply food and feed industries in Europe and beyond. Wheat flour is a key input for bread, bakery products, pasta, biscuits, and other everyday foods consumed across Europe. The number of flour mills exceeds 3,000 with a large majority of small and medium-sized enterprises. The sector employs some 45,000 people directly and estimated 350,000 indirect labour at European farm level. Competition is strong, margins are limited, and efficiency and scale matter. Milling remains a territorially anchored activity, with mills present all over Europe and strong links to regional farming.
The European Union is the world’s leading producer of beet sugar, accounting for approximately 50% of global production. Between 2019 and 2024, the EU produced an average of 16 million tonnes of sugar per year. The industry operates 83 active factories across the EU-27 (plus two in Switzerland), which serve as essential economic hubs in rural areas. The sector accounts for roughly 25,000 direct factory jobs and supports an additional 250,000 jobs throughout the supply chain. Beyond sugar, the process is highly efficient: it produces protein-rich animal feed and renewable ethanol from the same crop, making the most of every beet to provide a steady foundation for the European bio-based economy.
The EU starch sector is a key pillar of Europe’s agri-food and industrial economy. It employs around 16,000 people, supports 60,000 farmers, and processes nearly 25 million tonnes of EU-grown crops each year. As a versatile processing platform, it converts wheat, maize and potatoes into food ingredients, feed proteins, fermentation substrates, bio-based materials and industrial inputs used across multiple value chains. With highly efficient, near zero-waste processes, the sector connects agriculture to food, feed and industrial value chains—playing an essential role in advancing Europe’s bioeconomy and circular, low-carbon transition.
The vegetable oil and proteinmeal industry transforms EU produced agricultural raw materials and imported commodities, including crude vegetable oils, into a range of safe and high-quality products. With about 180 facilities in Europe, the sector accounts for 20,000 direct jobs. Its members process approximately 60 million tonnes of commodities a year, both of EU origin and imported from third country markets. The meals and the crude and refined oils are sold for food, feed, technical and energy uses essentially on the European market.
The European vegetable protein sector is a dynamic and innovation‑driven part of the agri‑food value chain, supplying high-quality protein ingredients for food applications. Across the EU, the sector comprises around 125 primary processing companies and supports approximately 32,500 direct jobs. Vegetable proteins are derived from a wide range of crops, including cereals, oilseeds, pulses and roots, and are processed into protein flours, concentrates, isolates, hydrolysates and texturised formats. Wheat, soy and pea proteins currently account for the majority of volumes, with increasing diversification into other plant sources. These proteins are used across a broad range of applications, such as bakery products, meat and fish preparations, dairy alternatives, snacks and specialised nutrition. Thanks to their nutritional value, functional properties and versatility, vegetable proteins support product development, reformulation and evolving dietary choices.
The EU cocoa industry transforms imported cocoa beans into a range of high-quality semi-finished products – cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, and cocoa powder – that are the essential building blocks for Europe’s world-renowned chocolate and confectionery industry, as well as for food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical applications. European Cocoa Association’s Members process commodities sourced primarily from producing countries in West Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, supplying both European and international markets. The industry is also a significant source of direct employment across Europe and producing countries.