According to Olivier Skrock of the French importer-exporter Festival, the beginning of the French stone fruit season was difficult. "The numbers are 40% lower than the numbers of previous years. This is not compensated by a good price, as it is difficult to achieve a satisfactory price in the export markets."
"The spring was rainy; this delayed production, and caused quality problems. Frost in March, and hail in April and May, destroyed much of the crops. Currently, the climatic conditions have improved. The fruits that are harvested now are of good quality, but the amounts are still limited."
In the domestic market, French stone fruit prices are a bit higher; it’s simply lacking in merchandise. For export, the situation is more complicated. Olivier: "Competition comes from a multitude of countries: we coexist with Greece, Italy, Spain and Turkey. It is difficult to realize the prices we need to offset the loss of volumes. "
Olivier Skrock
Basically, Festival was an export office for French producers. Over the years the company has evolved. Today, its flagship products are Breton vegetables, French stone fruits, Spanish citrus fruits and Moroccan beans and zucchini.
"Festival was created in 2004. Our head office is located in Perpignan. Then we opened Festival Bretagne. From there we buy and market all the Breton vegetables of the Prince de Bretagne brand. In Spain, we opened Festival Iberia Agraria, a structure whose main activity is the production of citrus fruits. In the region of Agadir in Morocco, we have a partnership with the company Yasprim, where we produce beans and zucchini.”
Since 2017, Festival is also producing French apricots in Châteauneuf-sur-Isère. "We try to return to a production which corresponds with the demand of our customers."
Festival customers are largely supermarkets. "We have all the necessary certifications to work with supermarkets in France and abroad. The production is certified Global GAP, the sales office in Perpignan is certified IFS, and we are certified organic and Bio Suisse. The biggest markets for Festival are Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and to a lesser extent Italy, England, and all other Western countries, such as Poland.
Festival will be present with a stand at the Fruit Attraction in Madrid, to present the citrus fruits of Iberian Festival, as well as the production of beans in Morocco.
For more information: 
Festival
Olivier Skrock
+33 4 68 81 84 21
+33 6 25 83 00 49
Avenue de Rome - BP 35349
66033 PERPIGNAN Cedex
France