"You have to eat fresh products!" ": This is the alarm cry of the Minister of Agriculture Didier Guillaume after the rush on pasta, flour, oils and other long-life products facing the coronavirus. At the end of the first days of confinement, which also changed consumption habits, here is an overview of the supply chains, from milk to fruit, through meat and fish.
Dairy products: PDO cheeses in difficulty?
"Overall, dairy products experienced an acceleration" before confinement, according to Mélanie Richard, director of economics at Cniel (dairy industry). "We do not yet have figures, but according to the feedback from the distribution, since Wednesday, sales resume a fairly normal pattern."
The only downside is "small businesses, which are in specific, niche markets", such as "quality cheeses, PDOs", which are more dependent on "sales on the markets, dairy and cheese makers for which the activity is perhaps more affected than traditional mass retail outlets, ”according to Mélanie Richard, who, again, does not yet have figures.
Fruits and vegetables: a cold spell on spring crops?
"There is a refocusing on the families of everyday consumer products, like the potato, because it keeps and we can do a lot of things," said Thomas Vallenet, Commercial Director of Ribégroupe, fruit wholesaler and vegetables in the north of France. Citrus fruits also sold well, as did the tomato, "easy to prepare". Conversely, "the asparagus, the strawberry, suffer enormously", indicates Laurent Grandin, president of Interfel, the interprofession of fruits and vegetables which evokes "fragile products, little storable".
Another problem for these spring crops is the lack of manpower to harvest, "given the blocking of borders". The interprofession asked the government to put in place specific contracts to help attract the many horticultural workers to technical unemployment.
Fishing: abandoned captain?
"Some crews, deep-sea fishermen who bring large volumes, no longer want to go to sea because they are paid for the sale and it does not sell," laments Olivier Le Nézet, president of the Brittany fisheries committee. The closure of restaurants and canteens has led to a drastic drop in demand, exports to Spain and Italy - traditional markets - are blocked, "the whole chain is breaking its figure" , sums up Olivier Le Nézet.
Result, the price of seafood collapsed this week in the auctions: langoustines at 6.80 euros per kg against 12 to 13 last week, sole at 8 euros against 17 and many products of the sea sold at floor price. Crews are therefore afraid to remain at the dock, without any prospect for the moment.
Meat, an outbreak before the broth?
"Our meat establishments have faced an increase in demand, of 20% over the last ten days, on the other hand, there has been a slowdown that has occurred since Thursday", notes Paul Rouche, deputy director of Culture Viande . "Sales were strong enough before the confinement, there, we are in a regulation that is being put in place," confirms Jean-François Guilhard, president of the confederation of butchers.
What about confinement?
“Once this first phase has benefited a number of more naturally storable products, will people go out to buy fruit and vegetables or will they eat the food at the end of this period? all canned food, rice, pasta they were able to buy, a phenomenon that we have followed with our European colleagues? "Wonders Laurent Grandin.
“The Italian wholesale markets have fallen by 30 to 50% over this period. Like the curves of the coronavirus, we follow human reactions which seem to be transposable from one country to another, "concludes Laurent Grandin, who campaigns for the maintenance of outdoor markets.
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