Fishing, watermelon, pepper, cluster tomato or green beans are among the products that have increased the most. On organic products, more expensive, the increases are less pronounced.
Le Monde with AFP
It is more and more expensive to buy fruits and vegetables. The average price of these products increased by 11 % between 2021 and 2022, alerted Friday July 22 The association of consumer rural families , which publishes an observatory of current consumer goods prices each year.
“The conventional basket”, as opposed to products from organic farming, “increased by 11 % or twice as much as inflation, however already very strong”, reveals rural families in a press release.
The price of the fruit basket increased by 8 % and that of vegetables by 15 % for products from conventional agriculture. In organic, more expensive, the increases are less pronounced, with an increase of 4 % for fruit and a 3 % drop in vegetables. >
The conventional inflation champion is watermelon (+ 40 % in one year) due in particular to the “unfavorable weather conditions” to its production, especially in Spain. Fishing (+ 25 %), pepper (+ 37 %), cluster tomato (+ 31 %) or green beans (+ 21 %) are also one of the most inflationary products. Conversely, onions (- 14 %), apples (- 7 %) or carrots (- 3 %) are cheaper on average than the previous year.
In organic farming, fishing (+ 28 %), lemon (+ 13 %), watermelon (+ 11 %) and pepper (+ 10 %) are the products whose price has progressed the most, While many vegetables have seen their price stagnate or lower.
“The year 2022 will not mark the beginning of a drop in the price of fruit, whether conventional or organic”, notes Rural Families, for whom “the cause is essentially in inflationary shock Also suffered by producers, who has caused a significant increase in production and packaging costs “.
inflation prior to 2022
The more limited increase in organic prices is explained, according to the association, by the lower use of inputs and above all by a greater difficulty in selling production, consumers “seeming to have diverted themselves from products most expensive foods “.
This inflation did not wait until 2022, according to rural families’ price statements: “From May 2012 to May 2022, fresh fruit prices increased by 42 % and those of fresh vegetables by 37 % “At the same time food prices and the general consumer price index” increased by 15 % and 13 % respectively. Hidden = “True”>
Faced with this increase, the association calls on political leaders to assign a food check to “all those who are today excluded from healthy products for their health, lack of sufficient budget”.