French strawberries are less popular

Published

Video length: 2 min.

France 3

Article written by

S. Piard, M. Arribe, C. Tixier, I. Gallou, O. Martin, S. Lerch, J. Sousa, D. Fossard, T. Simonet, L. Hauville – France 3

France Televisions

More expensive than strawberries from Morocco or Spain, French strawberries are struggling to find a place on supermarket shelves. Producers feel trapped by mass distribution.

How to resist the promotion? At 1.99 euros per 500 gram tray, Spanish strawberries are a must. It is difficult for the French strawberry to find a place for itself: per kilo, the Gariguette is between two and five times more expensive. Its purchase volume would have dropped by 20% in favor of Spanish and Moroccan strawberries. Throughout France, production costs have increased.

Different yields

In Lot-et-Garonne, an operator accuses large retailers: “We can’t envisage the future with quality products like that, if some have fun putting too high margin rates.” The industry maintains that margins are the same everywhere. For a producer, it’s hard to compete: “With the variety we have, when we’ve done 500-600 grams per plant, that’s the maximum. In Spain, it’s 1 or 2 kilos per plant.“French strawberries are eaten between April and June: producers hope that their difficult start to the season will not last.


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