A pleasant 22 degrees, without a bit of wind. While Brittany shivered at the start of the week, before getting showered, the temperature of this tomato crop is lukewarm. Under this imposing greenhouse located in Nouvoitou, a few kilometers south-east of Rennes, some fruits are already very red and are even beginning to be harvested. An above-ground and out-of-season culture made possible by a simple process: artificial heating. This Wednesday, however, the pipes are cold. The shy sun that hits the roof of the greenhouse is enough to warm the interior atmosphere. Christophe Rousse can breathe. Today, he will not need to consume gas to keep his greenhouses warm.
Because for several months, his profession has been hit hard by the continuous rise in the price of gas. The war in Ukraine has further deteriorated a situation that was already alarming even before the invasion of Russian troops. “Normally, we pay between 15 and 30 euros per megawatt hour. There, we went up to 220 euros on certain days in March. It is not tenable”, testifies the farmer.
President of Solarenn, Christophe Rousse is one of the 30 market gardeners who work for the cooperative based in Saint-Armel, near Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine). He made himself the spokesperson for the whole profession, strangled by inflation.
“Some growers have decided to plant only half of their greenhouses. Others simply threw away their plants when they saw the prices going up”.
Those who had decided to plant anyway drastically lowered the heating to avoid financial disaster. “It’s as if the fuel at the pump was 15 euros per litre,” explains Bruno Vila, general secretary of Légumes de France and producer near Perpignan. Consequence: the usual spring tomato so vaunted in Brittany has caught cold and fallen behind.
While the off-ground tomato represents 80% of French production, an entire profession is trembling. Will the French’s favorite vegetable see its price increase to cover the gas surge? It is possible, but not certain. “Normally, we are paid on average one euro per kilo. If we wanted to get out of it, we would have to go to 2 euros producer price. But we know that it will not be possible because the purchasing power of consumers is under pressure”.
The risk of overproduction this summer?
What his cooperative hopes for is that the distributors, and in particular the supermarkets, absorb part of the inflation by cutting back their margins. Not really the style of the house. Especially since a sharp rise in French tomatoes would inevitably push some consumers towards cheaper competitors, such as Spain or Morocco. One in two tomatoes consumed in France is not French, which the producers deplore.
With this abnormal year, above-ground market gardeners fear above all a collapse in prices this summer when production will flood the shelves of supermarkets and market stalls. “As many producers have decided to shift the planting, there is a risk of having a traffic jam”, worries Christophe Rousse. An imbalance of supply and demand that could cost producers dearly.