Over the past twelve months, the consumption of fruit and vegetables has jumped by 5% in France, unheard of in such a short period.

This trend was reinforced during confinement, and is explained in particular by an increase in the time available to be able to cook.

But the share of organic is decreasing.

In one year, the pandemic triggered by the coronavirus will have profoundly disrupted the relationship of the French to health and hygiene.

And not only with regard to disinfection and respect for barrier gestures, but also their eating habits.

Thus, the French have resumed eating more fruits and vegetables since confinement, with an increase of 5% over one year, a historic leap according to data from professionals in the sector.

On the other hand, the organic sector is experiencing a decline for the first time in twenty years, with a drop in sales of 1%.

>> LIVE -

 Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Friday January 29

A fundamental trend, reinforced by confinements 

Fruit and vegetable sales rose sharply from March with a real jump in April.

For Laurent Grandin, who chairs Interfel, the fruit and vegetable sector, this unprecedented progression is explained by a change in the living environment of consumers, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"In one year, consumption has increased as much as in the last ten years. During the two months of the first confinement; people were stuck at home with the children, they cooked more than usual and found, apparently t he, the way of fresh, "he says to Europe 1." It is a habit that should take root, like teleworking, "he predicts. 

"There is also another phenomenon already observed since 2018-2019: an increase in sales of fruits and vegetables linked to the greening of the content of our plate", adds economist Pascale Hébel, a specialist in consumer behavior. .

"The French want to reduce the consumption of animal products and to replace these products they began to consume a little more fruit and vegetables", she explains, also with Europe 1.

This underlying trend was further exacerbated, but to a lesser extent, during the second confinement in November.

But despite this sharp increase, the French still do not eat the 400 to 500 grams of fruits and vegetables per day recommended in the national nutrition plan, and stagnate around 350 grams per day on average.

>> READ ALSO -

How French meat consumption is boosted by the health crisis

Organic replaced by the local, more reassuring for consumers

Regarding the fall of organic, Pascale Hébel evokes the setting up, in recent months, of a "price arbitration" in the face of an uncertain economic context.

"The drop of 2 to 3% in purchasing power in the third quarter of 2020 led populations who had expanded on organic purchases to turn away from these products", because these are generally more expensive.

According to her, the attraction for organic has in a way been supplanted by the search for short circuits.

"We try to buy local French products, that is to say that we try to favor producers who are close to home out of a spirit of solidarity, but also because it is reassuring in an anxiety-provoking context, so that we do not always know where the organic comes from. "