In France, the average price of fruit fell this summer by 12 per cent, while the price of vegetables dropped by 3 per cent (compared to the summer period of last year)..
Harvests were more copious this year because of the weather during the spring and summer. It is regarded by farmers as a return to form, as this year's output has returned to the average level for the last number of years (2013 was rather an anomaly).
Hostility has developed between bodies representing fruit growers in France and Spain respectively over a price war. According to Michel Guallar, president of the chambre d'agriculture des Pyrénées-orientales, "The importation of Spanish peaches is ruining the market because of their low prices, and so our fridges remain fully stocked."
There is also disquietude among people in the French fish industry as a result of the large stocks across Europe.
© 2014 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article written by Peter Donnelly
