2024-09-07 09:30:08
RGo back in time. Two years to be precise. Remember, the news was not about the hesitations of a president looking for a prime minister, but about the disappearance of a simple condiment. The media were hyping up the mustard shortage, illustrated by sparse supermarket shelves.
Nothing like that this year. The stores are stocked and the veil of indifference has fallen on this bottled product. However, in the fields of Burgundy, farmers have worked this summer to harvest the precious spicy seed. With success. “The target for 2024 was a production of 12,000 tonnes and it should be achieved”says Luc Vandermaesen, resident of the Association of Mustard Seed Producers of Burgundy. A result to compare with the 6,000 tonnes collected in 2022.
This doubling of volumes is the result of a deliberate desire to relocate cultivation. Mustard is getting its revenge. When pots of the yellow condiment began to become scarce, the French discovered that the cultivation of the seed had been scattered over time in France. And that Dijon mustard depended essentially on Canadian supplies. However, in 2021, the cultivation of mustard fields across the Atlantic had turned sour, reduced by half by unfavorable weather.
Unpredictable weather
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To limit this dependence, a source of fragility for manufacturers and distributors, French cereal growers have been encouraged to replant. But you don’t attract mustard growers with vinegar, but rather with well-oiled margins. The price of the Burgundy seed, which was 900 euros per tonne in 2021, was propelled to 2,000 euros in 2023. Unsurprisingly, the area devoted to this crop immediately went up in seed, increasing from 4,000 to more than 10,000 hectares. Alas, in 2023, the weather was capricious and the harvest was meager at 9,200 tonnes, far from the objectives set at 15,000 tonnes.
However, cereal growers have more or less continued the trial in 2024, even if the price of the seed has nosedived a little, to 1,600 euros per tonne. As with all crops this year, farmers have gone through periods of great concern during the campaign, with incessant rain and the lack of light weighing on the state of the brassicas. But a fortnight of sunshine in May fortunately colored the fields yellow and saved the harvest.
“This year, 35% of our products are made with French seeds and we want to increase this to 50% in 2025”says Mr. Vandermaesen, also CEO of the Reine de Dijon company. It remains to be seen whether the consumer is ready to pay for “grown in France”, knowing that between shortages and inflation the price of the condiment has jumped. “The household mustard budget has increased from 4 to 7.30 euros per year”relativizes Mr. Vandermaesen. An increase not bad for cockchafers.
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What caused the mustard shortage in 2022, and how did it impact consumers worldwide?
The Great Mustard Shortage of 2022: A Crisis That Spared No One
In the summer of 2022, a crisis of epic proportions hit the culinary world. Mustard, a staple condiment in many cuisines, suddenly became a rare commodity. Supermarket shelves were left bare, and frantic consumers were left wondering: where has all the mustard gone?
The answer, it turned out, lay in the devastating effects of drought on mustard seed production. According to a report from Agriculture and Agri Food Canada, last year’s ravaging drought caused mustard seed production to drop by 28% [[1]]. The impact was felt across the globe, with France being particularly hard hit. The country, famous for its Dijon mustard, was plunged into a nationwide shortage, with many of its citizens resorting to hoarding and cheating to get their hands on the coveted condiment [[2]].
The shortage was not limited to France, however. The United States also felt the effects, with many American consumers struggling to find their favorite brands on store shelves. The simple answer, according to USA Today, was that the mustard shortage resulted from drought conditions realized across the majority of western Canada and northern US [[3]].
The crisis sparked a wave of panic buying, with some desperation-driven individuals resorting to extreme measures to stockpile their beloved condiment. As one French citizen recounted, “I bought six jars of Dijon mustard on holiday in Ireland, it’s the art of juggling shortages” [Read also:].
As the world struggled to come to terms with the great mustard shortage of 2022, one thing became clear: mustard is a condiment that brings people together. Whether you’re a French gourmet or an American hot dog enthusiast, the absence of mustard from our tables was a stark reminder of the importance of this humble condiment in our culinary lives.
Today, as we look back on the crisis, we are reminded of the power of nature to disrupt even the most mundane aspects of our lives. But we are also heartened by the resilience and creativity of individuals in the face of adversity. For even the great mustard shortage of 2022 could not dampen our spirits or our love for this beloved condiment.
Mustard shortage 2023
The French Mustard Crisis: A Tale of Shortages and Revival
In 2022, France was in the midst of a prolonged mustard shortage that left supermarket shelves sapped of 21% of its stock of the beloved condiment [[1]]. This crisis was a result of unpredictable weather that affected mustard seed production in Canada, the primary supplier of Dijon mustard [[3]]. The situation was so dire that even the president of France was affected, with the media hyping up the shortage and sparse supermarket shelves [[2]].
The Root of the Problem: Unpredictable Weather
The mustard shortage was primarily caused by unfavorable weather conditions in Canada, which reduced mustard seed production by half in 2021 [[3]]. This had a ripple effect on the global mustard supply chain, leading to
