France: Towards an increase in the price of apples on shelves in 2024

Is the apple harvest too good this year in France? Paradoxically, it is the good quality of the fruits harvested in the orchards at the start of the school year which partly explains the current difficulties of the compote manufacturers and could ultimately lead to an increase in prices on the shelves. In France, fruit growers send their apples first to be cooled while the rest, that is to say the less "pretty" and smaller apples, are sold to manufacturers who mainly make compote from them. “Each year, around 20% of the volume of apples made in France is processed on average,” indicates Adrien Mary, general delegate of the fruit group of the Federation of Preserved Food Industries (FIAC). “This year, we are more around 15%,” concedes Pierre Venteau, director of the national association Pommes poires which represents fruit producers. But that's not all since the fruit is also sold more expensively to manufacturers. “The price has doubled compared to last year,” says Adrien Mary. An ...