“There is a risk of a return to wage levels below the minimum wage.” The observation is bittersweet for Clara Dupré. For the past two years, customers have flocked to “La petite fève,” her organic farm located in Fondet, but for a few months attendance has slowed and most of customers acquired during the pandemic are gone.
National sales down
Same observation with Paola Saccier. Produces organic fruit and vegetables in Luzillé. When the vegetables fell on his hands, he had to be inventive: “we made soup zucchini and cauliflower, she explains. But it’s cash and a lot of work. We should think about sending them to the cannery, which is an hour’s drive away.“
The small bean lost 20% of its turnover compared to last year, a decline that is part of a national trend: according to the organic agency
sale of organic fruits and vegetables down 4% in 2021 compared to 2020
Inflation and the exit from covid
For Thomas Prigent, Director of Bio center
(an association that brings together nearly 600 producers in Centre-Val de Loire), several ways can be proposed to explain these declines, in particular inflation : “food is the variable to adjust the budget, organic food, which is mistakenly perceived as more expensive, bears the brunt“.
One more factor can be pointed out “during the pandemic, one of the few ways to get out of the house was to go shopping. Consumers turned to their organic producers en masse. Then there was a back to normal and all resumed their sometimes very constant rhythm of life, work, and leisure.“