The French harvest is down 30%. It stands at just a little more than one million tonnes. Yield, another effect of the drought, is also one-third below normal.
The apple harvest is ending on a farm in Indre-et-Loire, as in other French orchards. On the stalls, most of the fruit is smaller than usual.
This reduced size is a direct consequence of the drought and the scorching summer. Growers report a marked lack of water in July and August.
The apples hardest hit are the early varieties. These include Gala, red with touches of yellow, and Golden, entirely yellow.
These fruits, picked very early, did not have time to recover from the summer water deficit. The catch-up seen in later varieties was not possible for them.
A few tonnes remain to be picked, however, including Pink Lady. This apple, which ripens in November, had more time to recover from the heat wave.
These smaller apples will in any case be bought for less than the larger ones. The difference in size is therefore reflected directly in the price paid to growers.
The same two-kilo bag then sells for between 3 and 5 euros in supermarkets, according to franceinfo. The gap between the producer price and the shelf price therefore remains wide.
Given the situation, major retail chains have pledged to shorten payment times to producers. The measure is intended to ease the cash flow of farms in the middle of the harvest.
Major retailers also earn high margins on fruit and vegetables, and much lower ones on other products. The imbalance weighs on orchard incomes.
At the European level, the apple harvest is estimated at 9.5 million tonnes, about one-third less than usual, according to franceinfo. The decline is therefore not limited to France.