Intermarché bans Moroccan strawberries

This initiative is part of a broader desire to favor short supply chains. The group’s stated objective is ambitious: by 2027, to double the number of its local suppliers, thus reaching 20,000 farmers located less than 70 km from the points of sale.

It must be said that the strawberries offered in winter in supermarkets mainly come from Spain or Morocco, where they are grown intensively, often in soilless cultivation. As for cherries, rarer at this time of year, they usually come from Chile or South Africa.

Admittedly, this measure has the merit of promoting responsible consumption, but it only concerns a tiny fraction of the group’s fruit and vegetable turnover, barely 1%, tempers BFM TV. The fact is that the consumption of strawberries and cherries in winter remains marginal.

The real challenge for the Mousquetaires lies elsewhere, particularly with tomatoes, the true star of the French’s shopping baskets. With 13.6 kg consumed per person each year, it is the number one fresh vegetable on our tables. Yet nearly 36% of the tomatoes consumed by the French are imported, mainly in winter, facing stiff competition from Morocco, Belgium and the Netherlands.