Lwill the kiwi be pokey? The question is asked while the date of the harvest of the vitamin fruit must begin on October 10 until the end of November. “The sizes of the kiwis have been impacted by the heat stroke “says Jean-Marc Poigt, president of the Adour Kiwi Promotion Association. He estimates the French harvest this year at 45,000 tonnes. To be compared with the 60,000 tonnes, considered as the form weight of the sector. Already, in 2021, 25% of production had evaporated, pulverized by the spring frost. This time, the growth of the kiwi was done intermittently, blocked as soon as the thermometer exceeded 32°C.
In 2021, the price of kiwifruit has jumped. “The average price paid by the consumer has increased by 25 cents on average, from 4.75 to 5 euros per kilo”, says Adeline Gachein, director of the national interprofessional kiwifruit office. Enhancement favored by the recognition of the origin of the fruit. “We have solved the problem of francization of the product”adds M.me Gachein. The kiwi said no to counterfeiting.
transvestites
The repression of fraud flushed out, in 2019, actors who bought kiwis in Italy and resold them, at a knockdown price, disguised as French fruits. Among other convictions, the judgment of the Montauban court, delivered in 2021, sentenced the defendant to a fine of 50,000 euros and a suspended six-month prison sentence. A heavy sentence weighed against the 3,000 tons of fraudulent sales. Procedures are still ongoing.
Zespri multiplies agreements with farmers in France, Italy and Greece to produce the yellow kiwifruit for which it holds the property rights
By shining the media spotlight on this affair, the culture of the kiwi has found new life. “Rates have recovered, and this frees up resources to invest. The area of orchards which had fallen to 3,800 hectares is expanding again”emphasizes M.me Gachein. Promotion is also driven by protected geographical indications (PGI), such as those of the PGI kiwi from Adour, but also the very recent PGI kiwi from Corsica, won in 2020. Letters of nobility for a plant that has no took root in France only at the turn of the 1970s.
But, in new plantings, the kiwi sometimes turns from green to yellow. The yellow and sweet kiwis that have appeared on the stalls most often bear the New Zealand Zespri label. An all-powerful commercial brand which reigns in quasi-monopoly in the country of the Maoris. This company welcomed the free trade agreement signed at the end of June between Europe and New Zealand. No more export tax for this emblematic fruit of the southern hemisphere, which it dumps out of season.
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