The cost of fruit and vegetables in France has gone down this year and buying French is cheaper, but buying from markets is still the most expensive and organic produce still costs double.
According to a new study by the Association of Rural Families (L’Association Familles Rurales), fruit has dropped in price by 8% and vegetables by 7% this year compared to 2016 prices, with a kilo of fruit costing on average €3,76 and a kilo of vegetables costing €2,14 in 2017.
However, organic fruits and vegetables were found to cost twice as much as their commercial counterparts, with a kilo of organic fruit at around €7 per kilo, and vegetables at €4.
Perhaps surprisingly, farmers’ markets were found to be the most expensive source of fruits and vegetables, compared to low-cost “hard discounts” supermarkets, which were found to have the cheapest produce, followed by hypermarkets and other “normal” supermarkets.
The study found it to be slightly cheaper to buy French-origin fruit and vegetables compared to buying from abroad, with 10 of the 16 fruits and vegetables studied found to be cheaper if bought from within France.
Overall, in the past 10 years, a basket of fruit has risen by 18.6% in price (quicker than the 12, 2% rate of inflation), compared to a rise of just 7% for a basket of vegetables.
