French Tomato Producers Launch Patriotic Tray to Battle Moroccan Imports

250 g of cherry tomatoes. This is the unique tray created this year by 500 producers united within the National Producers’ Organization Association (AOPn) Tomatoes and Cucumbers of France in order to encourage consumers to buy French. These French trays have the same weight as the Moroccan trays and the Azura trays, which are now invading the supermarket shelves all year round, according to Le Dauphiné Libéré. Could this sovereign tray compete with the Moroccan tray? "It’s too early to take stock. For now, we’re still contacting the large retailers to get them to promote them everywhere," explains Ronan Collet, from the AOPn Tomatoes and Cucumbers of France.

The French tray is sold at 1.29 euros while the Moroccan tray costs 0.99%. This makes it difficult for French producers who are facing what they consider to be unfair Moroccan competition. "At this price, the margin is very low for the producers," says Ronan Collet. Expensive to produce, the cherry tomato "requires two to two and a half times more labor than the classic grape tomato," he continues. The other disadvantage is that the cost of labor is fourteen times higher than in Morocco. This is why the French cherry tomato is more expensive than the Moroccan one, but also two to four times more expensive than the French bulk round tomato.

Yann Le Cunff, Market Monitoring Officer at Tomatoes and Cucumbers of France, points an accusing finger at the large retailers, who, according to him, "take a higher profit margin on French products than on Moroccan products".