“The situation is the same for many products,” explains Alexandra Brossard, sales manager of Total Produce Indigo. “There is very little merchandise, prices are high because of the very strong increase in freight costs, and the chaos in arrivals make it really complicated to keep track of our products.”
Most of the large-import products suffer from the current situation, but the off-season melons, less and less popular among the French, seem particularly affected. “Large-import melons have been in decline for several years on the French market. Generally speaking, the French want to consume fewer off-season products and this trend is especially visible for the melon. Additionally, the delays in logistics have an impact on the quality of the melons, which are highly sensitive products. The increase in the cost of freight, energy and fertilizers, among others, put an inevitable pressure on our selling price. At the moment, 10 kilos of yellow melons cost 16 euros [18 USD], which is 40% more than last year. This caused our sales to drop even more this year.”
Contrary to France, the European market does not follow this trend. “France is somewhat the black sheep of the market for large-import melons. At the European scale, the sales of off-season melons are very dynamic for Total Produce Indigo, in spite of the higher prices.” This situation is also due to the lower availability of the offer this year.
For more information:
Alexandra Brossard
Total Produce Indigo SAS
ZAC du Griffon, 511 Route de la SEDS, Bâtiment 14
13127 Vitrolles, France
Phone: + 33 442 416 680
Fax: + 33 442 791 883
a.brossard@indigo-fruit.com
www.totalproduce-indigo.fr