The price of this widely consumed food in France will increase dramatically!

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A tomato highly appreciated by the French could see its price rise exponentially in the coming days, due to the war in Ukraine.

This food, which has important advantages such as reducing hypertension thanks to its high potassium content, is widely cooked in France. Some think it’s a vegetable, but it’s actually a fruit.

price of tomatoes

Tomatoes: an important food in our diet

In sauce, cooked or raw, the tomato populates our fridges, everywhere in France. Producers regret it: one in two tomatoes is not French. In our territory, no less than 80% of tomato production is grown on the ground, which requires underfloor heating.

In fact, the temperature variations of recent months have reduced the French production.

Depending on the increase in tomatoes in supermarket bins, the consumer could resort to Spanish producers or from other European countries.

In France, 80% of tomatoes are grown above ground. In other words, it is artificial heating that plays the role of the sun in large greenhouses. The colder it is, the more the heating should be increased.

A very specific cause of this sudden increase

The war in Ukraine has led us to reduce our domestic imports, various and varied.

The price of the essence, but also the price of gas tends to explode in France and in the European economic markets; but then why might the price of tomatoes rise exponentially in the coming days?

Due to the war in Ukraine, some producers expect a boost from the big distribution groups and big retailers, especially at the margins.

In fact, the price of gas could approach 220 euros per megawatt very soon, against 30 euros before. A real shock for the producers. Frenchthat they will surely find it difficult to resist this increase.

Beware, the price of French tomatoes could rise sharply

The war in Ukraine has unexpected consequences on the production of certain fruits and vegetables French. This is particularly the case for tomatoes, as our colleagues at Figaro report.

In fact, while 95% of the tomatoes produced in France are grown above ground, the heating of these greenhouses problematic. In addition to the ecological impact that is constantly pointed out since it allows tomatoes to be produced all year round, growers face rising energy prices. Because to heat these greenhouses, it is necessary to use gas.

However, in one year, the price of gas has increased tenfold according to our peers, and the price of a megawatt hour is skyrocketing.

Interviewed by TF1, a Breton farmer confirms the delay: We are planting three months later than usual and will stop harvesting in mid to late September instead of late October as usual, he said.

Your greenhouse, which is now at 12 degrees instead of 20, should already bear fruit.

Scarcity and increase?

Why so late? again the reward gasoline. The Breton producer had to wait for the arrival of spring to start heating his greenhouses. Others, who may not have been able to declare their plantation, have already had to throw away merchandise. And now, supermarket shelves are sometimes empty of French tomatoes, says Le Figaro.

There are tomatoes, but they come from Morocco or Spain. For the producer interviewed by TF1, that he expected to go quietly to retiredthe situation has changed: for four or five months, I questioned myself a lot, he admits.

For the 1,200 hectares of French greenhouses, the problem does not come only from the Ukraine. The war in Eastern Europe only accentuated the growing rise in prices. While the price per megawatt hour has long been between 15 and 30 euros, rose to 220 euros in February. Today, it has stabilized around 90 euros, but it is still too expensive.

Tomatoes

The president of the Breton cooperative Solarenn warns: With the current price of heating, this means that tomorrow we will no longer have tomatoes grown in France. What solution then? According to some horticulturists, prices should be multiplied by two or three. At the risk of seeing that the French no longer buy local.

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