Cédric Leite specializes in tomatoes at Mighirian Frères, based at Rungis. At the end of June, the wholesaler is choosing to give tomatoes from Brittany a central place. "We are really at the height in terms of flavor for tomatoes from Brittany. The weather has been ideal, warm but not too hot, which means that the products have been able to soak up the sugar while holding up well over time. I am also working with producers in Provence, but given the high temperatures in June in the South of France, the products have suffered more."
As far as consumption is concerned, all the indicators also seem to be in the green. "Consumption is good, much better than last year, when it rained throughout the month of June. This inevitably leads to rather high prices for French products."
Buyers have been favoring French products. "Tomatoes from Belgium are not marketable, and prices are doubling. Buyers prefer to buy French tomatoes at €1.60 [1.87 USD] rather than Belgian ones at €0.80 [0.93 USD], so our sales are not at all affected by foreign competition. Our clients are not venturing into other origins, because it would be a shame to display "Belgian Origin" at the moment. This shows our clients' desire to favor the French origin at the height of the season and to offer tasty products to their customers. We do sell some Belgian tomatoes to the clients who cannot afford French products, but this is anecdotal."
For more information:
Mighirian Frères
Cédric Leite
Phone: +33 (0)1 41 73 78 14