FRESH FRUITS

A total of 500 000 tons of fruits were marketed in the Paris-Rungis Wholesale Market in 2006. 

In 2007 a total of 470 000 MT of fruits were marketed in the Paris-Rungis Wholesale Market. 

In 2008 a total of 442 000 MT of fruits have been marketed at the Paris Wholesale Market.  

In 2009 a total of 433 746 MT of fruits have been marketed at the Paris Wholesale Market. 

In 2010 421 532 MT of fruits have been marketed (see details at the bottom)

In 2006, 13 000 MT of grapefruits were marketed in the Paris Rungis Wholesale Market. Mostly imported from Florida and South American countries but also from South Africa, Turkey, Cyprus, Morocco, Spain and Israel. France has no grapefruit production, except in the Corsica Island (about 4 000 tons in 2007). In 2007 France imported 12 000 tons of grapefruit. During 2008 a total amount of 11 000 metric tons of grapefruits were marketed at the Paris Rungis Wholesale Market ( mostly from Florida and from other South American countries such as Honduras, Chile, Argentina but also from Mexico, South Africa, Tunisia, Cyprus, Israel, Morocco and Turkey ) but in 2009 grapefruit imports reached only 9 343 MT. The most appreciated varieties are the Florida grapefruits, Israeli grapefruits and the Spanish Star Ruby grapefruit. Florida grapefruit is a lot appreciated by French consumers and Novagrim imports Florida grapefruit as well as Turkish and South African grapefruits. Depending on seasons, Argentina, Cuba, Mexico and Honduras also supply grapefruits for the French market.

HONEY POMELO

The «Chinese grapefruit" or the pomelo, pumelo, pommelo, Lusho, Jabong and Shaddock are the same names for the designation of this product which originated in South-East Asia (Malaysia & Indonesia). The pomelo is the ancestor of the grapefruit. It grows in large quantities in wild parts of China. It is wrongly called grapefruit in Europe or else its name in Northern America is Pomelo. The French started to get used to honey pomelo since a couple of years. It's generally bigger and heavier than the grapefruit and it has a sweet and sour taste. It's a big and heavy citrus and it's covered with a thick skin. The pomelos can vary from round to pear-shaped and can easily replace grapefruit, orange or even pineapple in many recipes. The pomelo is an excellent source of vitamin C but provides little energy and it can remain at room temperature for up to two weeks. The juice and the zest of the pomelos can be frozen. French importers started to import this product a couple of years ago whereas, originally, it was consumed by ethnic consumers. Novagrim will import honey pomelos for the French markets in the coming years.

France is a cherry producing country. With an annual produce of about 60 000 MT France has the sixth rank among the EU countries behind Poland, Italy, Spain, Germany and Hungary. France exports about 7 000 tons of cherries, mostly to Germany, UK, Italy and the Benelux. Only 10 % of the total produce was marketed in the Paris Rungis Wholesale market in 2006 (6 800 MT) but 1 200 tons of cherries were imported. During the year 2007 the French cherries represented a total of 4 900 tons whereas only 1 200 tons of cherries were imported (Spain, Turkey, Greece, Portugal, Chile, Argentina, USA). Argentinean sweet cherries are very much appreciated during the Christmas holidays. In 2008 a total amount of 5 900 metric tons of sweet cherries have been registered on the Paris Rungis Wholesale Market but only 1 100 metric tons of this amount concerned sweet cherries marketed by importers and operators ( Spain, Argentina, Chile, U.S.A, Czech Republic, Turkey). By end November 2009 a total of 6 750 MT cherries were marketed (5 700 MT of French produce & 1 500 MT marketed by importers). In December 2009 and January 2010 sweet cherry consumption (Argentinean & Chilean) has been very popular in France.

France produces about 75 000 tons of kiwis and is the second biggest kiwi producer among the EU countries just behind Italy who produces about 70 per cent of the European kiwis. The French kiwi production represents 15% of the European production, followed by Greece (10%), Spain (2%) and Portugal (2%). New Zealand, Italy, Argentina, Chile and Greece are among the suppliers of the French markets. In 2006 a total of 5 700 tons of kiwis were marketed at the Paris-Rungis Wholesale Market (3 000 tons were French kiwis) . In 2007 a total of 2 800 tons of French kiwis were marketed and 3 000 tons were imported. In 2008 the market registered 5 750 metric tons of kiwi sales of which 2 150 MT were French produce while the amount of French kiwis marketed by end November 2009 was 1 850 MT and the import produce 3 900 MT. French kiwi fruit is the most appreciated in France but kiwi fruits from Italy, Argentina, Chile, Greece and Turkey are imported.

Italy produces 40 per cent of the European peaches and nectarines. Spain produces about 30 per cent, Greece follows Spain with 20 per cent. France is the fourth EU producer (10 per cent) with a total produce of 420 000 tons. 30 000 tons of peaches and nectarines were marketed in the Paris - Rungis Wholesale Market in 2006 (15 000 tons of peaches & 15 000 tons of nectarines). 8 000 tons of nectarines and 7 000 tons of peaches were imported in 2006. In 2007,14 000 tons of nectarines and 13 000 tons of peaches were marketed in the Paris-Rungis Wholesale Market. In 2008 a total of 13 300 metric tons of peaches were marketed here (5 800 metric tons of French produce and 7 500 metric tons import peaches. During the same period 15 500 metric tons of nectarines were marketed on the market (6 300 metric tons of French produce against 9 200 metric tons of import produce). By end November 2009, 15 600 MT of nectarines were marketed here ( 8 300 MT of French & 7 300 MT of import produce marketed by importers ) while the amount of peaches marketed reached 12 400 MT ( 6 300 MT French & 6 100 MT of import produce ).

APRICOT

With her 140 000 tons of apricot produce France is the second EU producer just behind Italy . Italy produces 33 per cent of the European apricot and Spain produces 20 per cent. 9 200 tons of French apricots were marketed in the Paris-Rungis Wholesale Market in 2006 while 1 600 tons were imported. In 2007, 7 150 tons of French produce were marketed and 1 200 tons were imported. In 2008 the market registered sales for 4 900 metric tons of French apricots and 1 900 metric tons of import produce (mainly from Spain) & this amount was already 8 500 MT (French) & 1 550 MT (import) by end November 2009. Novagrim will import new varieties of apricots in the coming seasons.

Italy is the biggest table grape producer of the EU countries (about 70% of production) just before Spain (15% of the EU production). France produces some world famous varieties such as "Chasselas de Moissac", "Muscat du Ventoux" and "Muscat de Hamburg", which are table grapes branded A.O.C ( guaranteed quality label ) and very much appreciated by the French and European consumers. These varieties are grown in south-east and south-west of France. The harvest of the French produce is between June and December with peak periods in September and October. Besides these periods France imports large volumes of table grapes from Italy, Sicily, Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Peru, South Africa and Brazil. The most imported varieties are the UVA, Red Globe and Thompson Seedless varieties. The European table grapes are also imported from July to December (mostly from Italy, Germany and Sicily and the imported varieties are the UVA and Red Globe varieties) while Argentinean, Peruvian , Chilean, South African and Brazilian table grapes are mostly marketed from January to April . In 2007 the Paris Whole Market registered sales for about 4 400 MT of French produce against 23 900 MT of imported tables grapes. In 2008 French produce marketed in Paris decreased to 3 400 MT while the import produce reached 24 700 MT. The table grapes marketed in the Paris Rungis Wholesale Market reached 28 100 MT in 2008. The Paris Wholesale Market operators and importers imported only 18 500 MT of table grapes during 2009 while the French table grapes marketed during the same period reached 3 700 MT. Besides the French & Italian varieties, Chilean, Brazilian, Argentinean and South African table grapes are appreciated by the consumers, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and South Africa table grape importers provide the European and French markets regularly ( October to March ). Chile and South Africa grapes are the most popular among the import grapes.

In 2006 Iran was the world leader in pomegranate production with a local produce of about 700 000 tons followed by India, USA, Turkey, Spain, Tunisia, Morocco, Greece, Cyprus and Egypt. While Turkey's pomegranate production was about 55 000 tons in 1996, the total production in 2006 reached already 100 000 tons. Iran, Turkey, India and Spain are the biggest pomegranate exporters. In 2009 India doubled the pomegranate production and reached a produce of 1 200 000 MT while Iran was ranked world's second biggest producer with 650 000 MT, followed by USA, Turkey, Spain and Israel. Thus the world's biggest pomegranate production is still in the northern hemisphere.

KAKI-PERSIMMON

The world production of this famous exotic product reaches about 2.5 million tons a year, 95 per cent of which is sold in China (1.7 million tons), Korea and Japan followed by Brazil (65 000 tons) and Israel (about 10 000 tons). European production (5% of the world produce) is mainly Italian (2 650 ha giving about 45 000 tons).Other producers are Spain, Turkey, Portugal and Greece. There is a special demand for this product in the Paris-Rungis Wholesale market (from October to February).

France has been importing pineapples form Western Africa for years although the top ten world pineapple producers are Thailand, Philippines’, Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, Costa Rica, Mexico, Indonesia and Kenya. The French consumers have been consuming the fresh «sweet pineapple" since the last five or six years which caused a change in the consumption habits and as well as in the import origins of the French market. Most of these sweet pineapples are imported by air from Brazil, Costa Rica, Reunion, Ghana and Mauritius. Even though the Ivory Coast is still the biggest supplier of pineapples for France, the imports from this origin went down by about 30% in the 2007 season. On the other hand Costa-Rica raised the exports to France by +22% and obtained from now on a market share of 20% in France while Ghana exported 5% less than the preceding year. Cameroun surprised all buyers in France with their extraordinary progression of +65% in 2006 and confirmed a real development in this sector and the situation shows that this will continue in 2008. The Paris Rungis Wholesale Market registered sales for 18 800 MT of pineapples in 2007, 16 200 MT in 2008 & 17 700 MT by end November 2009.