"Strong competition for French asparagus"

The asparagus season is in full swing in France. According to Céline Genty of the Asperges de France association, French asparagus receive strong competition from Dutch and German asparagus; especially in the wholesale markets. "French consumers prefer French asparagus, but Dutch asparagus mainly feed distribution channels where the origin of asparagus is not necessarily brought to the attention of consumers, such as in catering." 

The French asparagus season has been delayed. "It was very cold and rainy in March, and the season was slow to start; this is why prices were quite high at the start of the season. During April, on the other hand, it was very hot and suddenly, there were large quantities on the market. Consumption was not yet ready to respond to such large amounts, and stores needed a little more time to really launch the campaign for asparagus of French origin. We have been on low price levels for a few weeks now. It is a real pity that consumer prices often are still quite high." 

"White asparagus from Germany are much cheaper than French asparagus in the stores. They’re often on sale, and are available on an ad hoc basis. Most of the white asparagus available on the market are French, though. As for green asparagus, we mainly get those from Spain."

Even though France has a very strong consumption culture for white asparagus, green asparagus are gaining popularity. "Household purchases in 2018 show an increase in sales, just like in previous years. Green asparagus is especially popular in the southwest of France. In terms of consumption, we are not yet at the balance between the white, the violet, and the green, but possible it’s slowly equalising. Time will tell."

"The second half of the French season will soon begin: some production areas will provide the market within two to three weeks. The season will not end earlier than other years, and we’ll have asparagus of French origin until the end of June from the Loire Valley. The French usually consider asparagus a seasonal product. "Outside the French production period, we have very few household purchases."

The Asparagus de France association accounts for almost 30% of French asparagus production, i.e. 5000 tons produced in 2017 by nearly 160 producers. "Almost all of the producers still harvest asparagus manually."

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