“We will be very vigilant for the next season, which starts in August,” explains Sandrine Gaborieau, after discovering Polish apples at a wholesaler supplying school canteens and nursing homes. “This practice is unfortunately widespread and it is slowly killing the French arboricultural sector,” according to the French Apple Pear Association (ANPP). The wholesaler in question responded quickly by immediately placing an order for local French apples. The French Apple Pear Association is asking all French wholesalers to do the same and supply the out-of-home catering circuits, including schools, hospitals, nursing homes and commercial catering.
These commercial practices are “all the more outrageous given that there are still French apples available. This particular wholesaler is located in the middle of the PDO Limousin Apple production zone and there is still local supply available.”
This is why the apple sector is asking for the compulsory labeling of the origin of products in the catering industry as well. “It is obligatory for marketing in stores, but not for collective catering,” explains Sandrine Gaborieau.
Producers of Limousin apples visited a wholesaler supplying school canteens and nursing homes in Corrèze, and found large quantities of Polish apples. These “control visits” are carried out on an ad hoc basis “whenever there is suspicion.”
“Unbearable distortions of competition”
For several years now, Polish apples have found their way onto the French market, with more favorable phytosanitary production conditions and labor costs 3 times lower, making it “impossible for French fruit growers to keep up. These are blatant distortions of competition that penalize and suffocate the French industry,” according to the French association, which has repeatedly warned on the subject, especially in 2022.
“Last year, during the International Agricultural Show in Paris, producers visited wholesalers at Rungis, who supply open-air markets and restaurants, and they noticed an abundance of Polish apples.” This situation also concerns supermarkets, because although most French retailers do promote the French origin, some Polish apples still end up on the shelves. “There were a lot of cases reported during the 2022 Agricultural Show, but these were mainly franchises which the retail chains did not necessarily have control over. At the end of the season, such cases are still found on the market,” explains Sandrine.
Polish apples at a supermarket in the Paris region
A desire for comparable production conditions and indication of origin
The French Apple Pear Association is hoping for a strong reaction from the French public authorities. “Expressing good intentions to respect the Egalim commitments is not enough. It is now urgent to combine ambitions and resources, by providing public buyers with the necessary budgets to source from France. As for producers, all they ask is that they be allowed to produce under conditions comparable to those of their competitors, and that consumers be informed of the origin of the fruit they eat!”
For more information:
Sandrine Gaborieau
Association Nationale Pommes Poires
www.lapomme.org
www.vergers-ecoresponsables.fr