High quality but low prices of French radishes

The mild Spring in France was favourable to radish growth but led to prices decreasing. Fleuron d’Anjou’s Commercial Director, Pascal Laidet says that this year ‘'the campaign was very difficult with more volume and a much greater offering in France than normal over the Spring, however we had a very good product. Climate conditions were favourable to growth and meant a good product with good foliage and colour.’’

Prices were a lot lower than the average at ~€0.45/bunch compared to ~€0.50/bunch over previous years (Over the last 8-10 days prices have increased back to €0.50-0.55/bunch). "This summer it won’t be a profitable product because the average price has dropped, but based on the last three years it is still a profitable product,’’ says Mr Laidet.

Fleuron d’Anjou do not export their radishes (less than 3 % of volume is exported), they supply large retailers and wholesalers all over France and almost the totality of their production is consumed nationally. They have no competition from imported radishes, a few red radishes are imported from Germany but they are not really a threat as ''in France we consume a lot of pink radishes and hardly any red radishes’’.


 

Fleuron d’Anjou have farmed 7 million bunches of radishes so far this year. ''Our largest production period is from March to June and then we start to decrease over the summer and even more in the winter’’. The radishes are grown year round, they have been in open air fields since the 15th April and will be transferred to greenhouses around the beginning of October where they are kept until March.

Fleuron d’Anjou are currently working on ready-to-eat radishes in boxes and sachets that should be on offer by the end of the year.