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Apple growers are not spared from rising energy costs. The cooperatives are calling for help, because preserving the fruit requires a significant amount of electricity.
It’s the first day of harvest, on a farm in Secqueville-en-Bessin (Calvados). Apples are plentiful, but rising costs of production has the effect of a cold shower. In 2022, profits will be almost non-existent. “We are impacted by the increase in fossil energy in two main areas: on fertilizers, and on the fuel oil we use for machines.“, comments Aurore Quand, producer of cider apples.
Fertilizers have increased by 50% for this harvest. Impossible to hold, according to Philippe Gaillard, another cider apple producer. “Our apple buyers tell us: ‘We can’t increase the price of apples for you, because we can’t increase the price of cider on sale’“, he says. In a cooperative in Limousin, it is the soaring electricity prices that are worrying. The MWh has gone from 46 to 132 euros. The apples, intended for supermarkets, must be kept for 24 hours a day in large fridges, in order to maintain their appearance and avoid dehydration.Producers are asking the State to introduce a tariff shield.France has 5,000 apple farms.