Fruit producers are carrying out an awareness campaign this Monday morning towards supermarkets and consumers. According to them, the margins generated by supermarkets would make it possible to remunerate producers fairly, without the consumer being obliged to pay more. This morning, a column of 30 to 50 tractors took the Nationale 3 to go to the headquarters of Comeos, the spokesperson for commerce and services, in Auderghem.
Production costs for apples and pears have skyrocketed since last year due to the rise in the price of electricity needed to keep the fruit refrigerated in winter. And the wages of the workers have also been indexed on January 1.
There are very few margins
A kilo of Jonagold apples costs 2 euros 20 in the supermarket, of which only 30 to 40 cents on average goes to the producer. Christophe Sancy, editor-in-chief of retail magazine Gondola, includes the producers: “They clearly lack 20 cents per kilo to be able to keep their heads above water and in these conditions, sometimes overwhelmed, they prefer to uproot their fruit trees”.
This winter in Belgium, 15% of apple plantations were uprooted due to lack of profitability. The producers are asking for a gesture. Here is the response from Dominique Michel, the boss of Comeos who represents large retailers: “There is very little margin to be able, unfortunately, to go in the direction of what is requested”.
Belgian production is abundant and of high quality, so why are there still foreign apples and pears on our shelves? Those from elsewhere fill a gap in summer or simply do not exist in Belgium, such as Granny Smith apples or Pink Lady, for example.