PARIS, June 11 (Wang Qinming) Melon prices in France rose sharply in May and early June due to the catastrophic cut in melon production in Spain. Melon paired with ham is a common summer dish in France, and in the past few weeks, the cost of melon in this dish has even been higher than the cost of ham.
This year's melon season, whether from France, Spain or Morocco, the price of melons soared, and melons from Cavaillon, a well-known French melon producer, sometimes cost as much as 5 to 10 euros per melon.
On the website of an E. Leclerc supermarket in western France, a melon costs up to 10 euros. The supplier of this melon is one of the largest melon wholesalers in France.
Usually melons are usually more expensive at the beginning of the market due to lower production, but this year's price has far exceeded that of previous years. Although inflation has an impact on melon prices, and rising energy and raw material prices have also caused production costs to rise by 30% this year, these are not the main reasons why melon prices are so high.
The reason for the higher melon prices this year is mainly due to insufficient supply, and in March and April, the capricious weather in the melon planting fields caused a severe blow to the production of melons.
In May and early June, the melons sold in the French market mainly come from Spain. In April this year, Spain received frequent rainfall, and bad weather affected bees to pollinate melon flowers. A melon takes an average of five weeks from pollination to growth.
In May, as temperatures rose in France, demand for melons increased. According to professional estimates, when the temperature exceeds 25 ° C, the demand for melon increases by 3 times. However, the supply of melon did not rise with demand, resulting in a tight supply, and the price of melon naturally rose.
According to industry insiders, in May, the wholesale price of melon is usually 1.80 euros per kilogram, but this year the wholesale price exceeded 3 euros, so the price of melon broke through 5 euros.
However, people who like melons do not need to worry, and the price of melons will gradually fall back to 3 euros per melon in the future.
Although the sharp rise in the price of melons has deterred the public, melon producers are very happy, and they hope that this can reverse the decline in French melon production.
In 2020, the French company Poitou produced 10% of French consumption (30,000 tons per year), but the company chose to sell the business and focus on apples instead.
In 2021, Soldive, France's number one melon producer, almost completely abandoned melon production. Late last year, the company closed most of its melon production sites and reduced the number of hectares grown with melons to one-fifth of what it had been before.
Not only France, but also fruit producers in other countries are abandoning melons. Over the past decade, the area under which melons have been cultivated in major producing countries has been steadily shrinking. According to data released by the Melon Industry Association (AIM), the total area planted in the three main producing areas has dropped from 14,750 hectares in 2012 to 10,400 hectares this year.
French melon production in 2019 was about 300,000 tons, fell to 240,000 tons in 2020, and then rose slightly to 260,000 tons in 2021, which is not enough to satisfy French consumers. France's major producers import melons from Spain and Morocco, and the number of melons imported by France in 2021 has reached a record 121,000 tons.
According to market research, 80% of the French people buy melons every year, and the average household consumes a total of 8 kilograms of melons.
Why do producers choose to give up melons? Mainly due to the fact that the profits of producing melons are getting lower and lower. According to Kantar's research company, the average Price of melons bought by the French is 2 euros each, and it is mainly to buy special melons, and almost 40% of melons are sold at a reduced price.
Every summer, a promotional price of 0.99 euros for a melon is quite common. Whether it is Leclerc, Carrefour or Intermarché supermarkets, they all want to attract consumers to the store with special melons, but melon manufacturers can only sell at a loss.
Despite the low price, the cost of melon production is high. It usually takes two to three people to grow a hectare of melons. This means that 250 people are needed to grow 100 hectares of melons, and for the same area of grain, at most one or two are enough.
Given the high cost and low price of melon production, more and more melon growers are choosing to grow wheat or barley instead. In 2022, there are only 400 farms left in France that are still growing the Salantean variety melon.