“The pear market is difficult this year, despite the small production,” explains David Verdier of the producer-exporter La Tour en Provence. “This year, we didn’t necessarily have the required quantity of apples or pears for export. As a consequence, many operators turned to the French market, which is now having difficulties absorbing all this offer. There are still a lot of Conference pears in stock. They are sold at relatively low prices. The problem is that consumption is low in France this year, for both pears and apples.”
On the apple market, there is also the pressure from Eastern Europe countries, like Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Ukraine. “All these factors put together make the French market saturated by the apple and pear offer today.”
According to David, it is not easy to explain why consumption is so low. “We’ve had some political issues with the yellow vests. During that period, people frequented supermarkets less, especially in the weekends. That could be one of the reasons, but I’m not sure.”
La Tour produces, ships and imports apples and pears. Annually, the farm produces about 2,000 tons of pears and 8,000 to 9,000 tons of apples. The apple production begins mid-August and lasts until May-June. The pear season starts in July and ends in October. The company exports its products to Great-Britain, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium. It also imports fruits from Italy, Argentina and South-Africa.
For more information:
La Tour
2822 chemin de La Tour
84300 Cavaillon
France
Phone: 04 90 78 08 84
david@latour-verdier.fr
www.latour-verdier.fr