Consumption of organic fruit and vegetables fell by 11% in 2021 year-on-year. This organic apple producer can no longer find customers for her fruit, even by selling them off.
On the hills of Moissac (Tarn-et-Garonne), Françoise Roch struggles to sell her apples. Four years ago, the arborist launched into organic like many of her neighbors, but the reality of the market has since swept away her hopes.
In this clayey and sunny region at the gates of the Lot, which seduced her more than thirty years ago, this 58-year-old Corsican runs a 60-hectare tree farm where vines, plum and apple trees coexist. A fifth of her apple production is organic, a choice she began to question two years ago when prices began to plummet.
“Now I sell them almost at the same price as my conventional apples (40 cents per kilo). When I started it was around one euro per kilo. Last year it went down to 60 cents. 2022 going to be very hard, I can no longer cover my costs”, worries the arborist.
Even sold off, Françoise’s Candine and Ladina no longer find takers. A few kilometers from his farm, in the warehouses of the Quercy Soleil cooperative, his apples sleep in large cold storage rooms, for an indefinite period.
“The selection of organic apples is more and more strict. Given the large supply, the consumer is more demanding and those with the slightest defect must be discarded,” she told AFP on the phone.
The consumption of organic fruits and vegetables fell by 11% in 2021 over one year, according to the interprofession of fruits and vegetables Interfel, citing data from the Kantar institute.
“Economic stalemate”
However, organic was a godsend for Françoise when she started in 2018. “The prices of conventional foods had not increased for years,” she recalls. She believed it.
“Every morning, on the radio, we were told that organic was developing in France and Europe. We said to ourselves that we mightn’t miss it!” “Nobody told us that we had to be careful, that organic only concerned 4% of purchases, and that supply should not exceed demand,” laments the arborist. “It’s disillusionment.”
Organic orchards are grown without using chemicals, which eradicate pests and boost yields. For each hectare, Françoise Roch has invested around 50,000 euros to buy new plants, prepare the soil, switch to manure fertilizer, install an ecological micro-jet irrigation system… “It’s a bit of a double Not only do the trees grow more slowly and give less fruit, but there is also a big production cost”, because their maintenance requires more labor.
Given the economic situation, it does not expect a return on investment for nine or ten years. This winter, his cooperative advised producers to stop all conversions to organic.
“The whole profession is in an economic impasse,” she judges, believing that the speeches promoting organic only make sense if purchases follow in stores.
Some of its neighbors are now thinking of resuming conventional agriculture. “Me, I do not know.” Especially since the traditional stalls are not necessarily ready to welcome its production. “If the consumer sees arriving, in the middle of Golden or Pink Lady, varieties that he does not know, he will move on.”
To return to conventional varieties, Françoise Roch would have to top-graft her trees, which would then take two years to bear new fruit. She sighs. “You know, I’m four or five years away from retirement…”
