All circumstances are in place for strawberry consumption to go up around Easter. “Strawberry sales are usually good in the week before Easter. We also have beautiful sunny days, which is always favorable for strawberry consumption,” explains Emeline Vanespen, director of Fraises de France.
The Gariguette at peak of production
Some production basins such as the Dordogne and Rhône-Alpes are just starting their season, but in the Lot-et-Garonne, Brittany or southeast of France, production is at its peak for the Gariguette and Cléry varieties. “This year, we’ve had a lot of sunshine but also cold temperatures, which has allowed us to start the season on schedule and to have a good spread of the production. Large volumes of Gariguette have been arriving on the market since last week. The Ciflorette is also in peak production at the moment, with quantities mainly coming from the Lot-et-Garonne department. As for round strawberries, volumes continue to rise. This is the case for the Cléry, which is mainly produced in the southeast of France. For round strawberries in general, the production peaks will be reached in May. And then, other basins will enter into production like the Sologne, Auvergne and the northern departments.”
Apprehension for the post-Easter period
Both production and consumption are going well, but as always, the association of producers fears the period that follows the Easter weekend. “With Monday being a holiday, there is one less day of business. Strawberries are a relatively delicate product and supermarkets don't risk buying too much. However, we hope that consumption will remain good after the holidays, which will mainly depend on the weather.”
Fear of a price war
Another parameter that strongly influences the success of the strawberry season is the positioning of supermarkets in terms of prices and origins promoted. “We raised our voice at the beginning of the season because retailers were slow to open their French strawberry lines. Fortunately, we were heard, which unblocked the situation. Now, we have some concern for the coming days because Spain is in its peak of production and sends a lot of volumes to France. In the current economic context, consumers may be tempted to buy Spanish strawberries rather than French ones, but luckily, we are still well established in the French countryside. We are now afraid of the consequences of this price war led by mass retailers. With the inflation, brands try to compete and pull prices down and it is always the producer who suffers. We hope that supermarkets will be respectful enough of producers not to come to this.”
For more information:
Emeline Vanespen
AOPn Fraises de France
[email protected]