This weekend, dozens of demonstrations by apple producers were organized all over France.
These farmers claim to be better paid by large retailers, and say they are in competition with cheaper apples from other countries.
Eat apples, he said.
This famous line no longer really makes apple growers in France laugh.
This weekend, from the south of France to Pays-de-la-Loire, arborists showed their fed up with a punch action.
Throughout the territory, dozens of trees were uprooted by the very people who had planted them.
In their sights: the prices charged by large retailers which no longer allow these farmers to live off the fruit of their labor, according to their unions.
“In the Vaucluse, other apple producers will cut trees this week, announces the president of the departmental federation of farmers' unions (Fdsea) of the department Sophie Vache.
You should know that when you cut down an orchard, it takes seven to eight years to rebuild it.
This is a strong signal sent by apple producers, because they sell for less than what their production brings in.
Large retailers do not play the game and pay downwards.
We simply demand that the margin be restored equitably between producer and distributor.
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"If we continue in this way, we will lose money and we will have to make choices, either by tearing up orchards, or by removing varieties that are less profitable, warns Rudy Hecky, apple producer on about thirty hectares in Steinseltz, in the Bas-Rhin.
Our charges also exploded.
In electricity, we are affected with our cold rooms and sorting tables in particular.
The fertilizer bill has doubled, packaging is +30%, labour, which is hard to find, is +10%… And at the same time, our price sales changes little or not at all.
We sell mainly in supermarkets and supermarkets, for about 30 to 50 centimes per kilo of apples.
We have an increase in the purchase price of 5 to 10 centimes per kilo at the start of the season, ie in September.
But the producer would have to be increased by another 20 centimes.
There, we would get out of it.
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“I know young organic farmers who are thinking of stopping organic, because they earn the same price as if they were doing conventional, laments Sophie Vache.
I know other producers who are thinking of stopping the apple altogether to devote themselves to something else, like the cherry.
We have already sent signals this summer but we have not been listened to.
The prices practiced today are lower than those practiced in 2018. The market shares are taken by other countries which produce less expensively, and the large distribution thinks of the purchasing power of their customers instead of buying French .
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"Apple producers are directly affected by the situation," explains Philippe Jacques, arboreal technical adviser at the Alsace Chamber of Agriculture.
Why ?
Because Russia is a very large importer of apples, which come from Eastern countries.
Especially from Poland, the biggest producer in Europe.
Except that, with the blockade, the Poles have moved to other markets, further west.
Their production thus ended up in Germany.
And, domino effect, German apple production arrived in France and England.
We therefore find ourselves, in France, with large volumes of foreign apples on our markets and their apples are less expensive than the French ones.
In addition, supply is greater than demand so that does not argue for an increase in the purchase price from producers.
I would add that the year 2022 is not terrible for producers.
In tonnage, it's good, but it rained a lot in the fall, so the fruits are not very stable in terms of conservation.
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A bill aimed at rebalancing trade negotiations between manufacturers and distributors must be examined at the beginning of the week by the National Assembly.
“But this morning, the distribution did not sit around the negotiating table, annoys Sophie Vache.
This is proof that we have pressed where it hurts.
The government can play the role of arbiter, but if the big retailers are honest, they can make a move.
If they do nothing, we will continue the blockades.
We do not forbid ourselves anything…”
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