Vegetable farmers in Thuringia, central Germany, saw demand for regional products drop which led to a decrease in the total area under cultivation. "The farming of asparagus is growing, but for vegetables such as bush beans and spinach they are clearly less farmed than a few years ago," said Joachim Lissner, secretary of the state association of field horticulture. Presently one vegetable crop is farmed in Thuringia on 1,115 hectares which is about one tenth less than in 2010.
Lissner states, "The fact that there is no frozen vegetable processing plant in the area is a problem. This is especially where the cultivation of spinach has dramatically decreased. Previously they cultivated 80 acres of spinach, in 2003. The cultivation area of bush beans has also severely declined, particularly in the German rural district Altenburger. The farming area has decreased from 380 acres to 47 acres.' Lissner attributes this to the fact that a frozen food company had to close for economic reasons but also a change in consumer demand."