French strawberry market: France bedding in on the market as an origin

Present on the market since mid-February, the French strawberry is gaining grounds as the Easter weekend approaches. In France, the campaign forecasts are similar to last year at around 63,000 tonnes. A delay in production of a fortnight was felt due to a lack of sunshine in January and February. In week 12, supplies from the South West, the main production region (70% of volumes), reached 130 tons per day. In the South-East, volumes progressed in rounds in week 12 in particular, with an intake reaching 60 tons a day. In Brittany (10% of production), where Gariguette is mainly produced, volumes progressed slowly. The other regions (Rhône-Alpes, Val de Loire and Alsace) are not yet present on the market.

Although prices have been falling regularly since the start of the season, they are still above the average for the last three years for Gariguette.

On the import side, strawberries from Spain reached 653 tons in St Charles over the whole week. This year, Spain suffered during the months of January and February at the production, the estimates of harvest were announced in decrease of 2 % compared to the previous campaign 2019-2020 which had reached 271 500 tons. In terms of price, Spanish strawberries have been affected by some quality declines in recent weeks. Moroccan origin is limited on the French market. In week 12, supplies to the St Charles market reached 70 tons per week. A few lots from Belgium were recorded on the Rungis market during week 12.