French Farmers Protest Moroccan Tomato Imports, Citing Unfair Competition

The Young Farmers of the Pyrénées-Orientales and FDSEA 84 have decided to make life difficult for Moroccan tomatoes. About twenty tomato producers, especially cherry tomatoes, from Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône conducted an awareness operation in the Carrefour Courtine hypermarket on the outskirts of Avignon. "With your Moroccan tomatoes, you’re killing us," a producer tells the manager of the fruit and vegetable section of the supermarket. He explains that "our cherry tomatoes cost 15 times more to produce (15 € versus 1 € per hectare), and we still manage to offer them at only 30 cents more per tray."

In the crosshairs of these French producers are the retailers "who only offer their customers Moroccan cherry tomatoes in the lowest price category." "There are retailers who play fair by also offering French tomatoes in the lowest price range. And others don’t," assures the same speaker. He adds: "At 99 cents for 10 years, Moroccan cherry tomatoes are sold at cost price. Distributors make their money with the exorbitant margin they apply to French tomatoes."

While these French producers acknowledge that foreign competition is legal, they denounce unfair competition due to abusive margins in large-scale distribution. "These products, often coming from low-cost countries, are preferred by purchasing centers that bet on the lowest bidder, without consideration for national production," they denounce. Faced with this foreign competition, the unions are asking for their products to be promoted with low margins to make them more competitive. In this sense, they call for a rethinking of purchasing policies.