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The Perishables Ecosystem –Food, Wine, Cannabis & More

French Fruit and Shallot Exporters Dealing With a One-Two Punch

Lara L. Sowinski · April 2020 ·

First it was the port strikes, now it’s a global pandemic. French agriculture exporters contribute significantly to the growth in the global reefer market, with producers of apples, pears and shallots among those who see opportunities in the U.S. and other markets.

Over the past five years, the volume of France’s fresh fruit and vegetable exports to the U.S. grew by approximately 19 percent (and 18 percent in value).

A program to promote France’s fresh fruits and vegetables, co-financed by the European Union and INTERFEL, a private French fruit and vegetable inter-professional association, aims to capitalize on growth prospects for French exports of fresh fruits and vegetables, despite the pandemic. The program’s goal is to raise awareness and interest about fruits and vegetables produced in Europe, specifically France, which takes pride in its production methods and product diversity. 

The challenges for France’s exporters started in December, when a country-wide transport strike snarled road and rail networks for several months, as well as cargo movement at France’s Port of Le Havre, the country’s largest container port, which forced exporters to divert containers to ports in neighboring countries.

Gerard Tessier, export manager at Blue Whale, a leading fruit producer and France’s number one apple exporter, was eager to introduce Angelys pears, a new variety, to the U.S. market. However, disruptions at Le Havre resulted in the fruit being too ripe to ship, and caused Tessier to miss a narrow window of opportunity.

“We don’t want to take a chance and ship the pears, and have them arrive over ripe in the U.S. So, we’ll have to sell them in France instead,” he said in late January.

In response to the Port of Le Havre being unavailable, part of Blue Whale’s reefer exports were diverted to Spain’s Port of Barcelona.

It ended up costing more, “but at least we were able to ship our products,” said Tessier.

Pascal Jaouen, director of French Produce Trading, opted to divert reefer exports to the Port of Antwerp in Belgium and Dunkerque in northern France as alternatives to Le Havre.

Traditional French shallots are an important export for Jaouen—and for France. The country is the largest shallot producer in Europe, with 90 percent of production located in Brittany and the Loire Valley.

The Traditional French shallot is grown from a bulb. It is distinctly different than the hybrid seed-grown shallots that are grown in the Netherlands and other countries. The Traditional French shallot is registered under the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), and Jaouen and major growers such as Prince de Bretagne are keen on introducing them to more foreign consumers.

Due to the strike, Jaouen suspended shallot shipments to Japan because of the longer sailing time, but was able to maintain export shipments to from France to New York, which typically take 7-9 days.

Now, French perishables exporters and the entire global food supply chain are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. 

In March, the initial impacts of the outbreak appeared at major Chinese seaports. Reefer containers piled up at the ports and all available reefer plugs at the terminals were utilized. Exporters in the U.S. who needed empty reefer containers to move their perishables were left without access to equipment. 

Meanwhile, the squeeze on the food supply chain in the U.S. is a daily topic for mainstream news. Shelves are bare. Consumers are frustrated. The logistics sector is stepping up to the plate and is working non-stop to meet demand and replenish inventory.

We’re living one of the worst-case supply chain disruptions in decades.

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Filed Under: Food/Beverage

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I VOTED (for cannabis)

No matter their political stripe, many Americans are in agreement with efforts to legalize recreational and medical cannabis.

On November 3, voters legalized marijuana for adult use in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota. Initiatives to legalize medical cannabis passed in Mississippi and South Dakota. The rapid expansion of legalized cannabis throughout the U.S. has a direct impact on the supply chain.

Let’s start by considering the food supply chain–a valuable case study with COVID-19 as the backdrop. Early on, Americans experienced food shortages at the retail level. Manufacturers and distributors scrambled to realign networks to supply grocery stores where demand was spiking, while shifting away from restaurants and the hospitality sector where demand was tanking. In a matter of months, online shopping and food delivery to consumers’ homes grew dramatically. As a result, the food supply chain is in the midst of reinventing itself.

The cannabis supply chain faces some similar challenges. Most importantly, there’s an opportunity now to learn and adopt best practices from the food and pharmaceutical supply chains with which it shares key commonalities.

What are the risks to the cannabis supply chain? California’s unprecedented fires this year threatened growers throughout the state. How quickly can infrastructure scale-up to meet demand, and at what cost? Commercial and industrial real estate is currently at a premium with the proliferation of e-commerce. What about transportation, distribution and logistics capabilities, including reverse logistics in the case of product recalls? Facilities, equipment, and skilled workers are in high demand, and as competition for these various assets tightens, what does that mean for the entire perishables sector (food, cannabis, wine, beverages, pharma, etc.) that need them? Collaboration and creativity can provide critical solutions across the board.

On a related note, a small handful of American and European companies are in talks with Rwanda now about exporting cannabis to the country to meet rising pharmaceutical demand. Supply Chain Sparrow has previously identified cannabis exports as a massive opportunity for the U.S., which of course, would require legislative changes at the federal level.

Vote. And keep on voting.

Be Brave. Fly Right. And keep in touch at info@scsparrow.com.

Lara L. Sowinski, Executive Editor

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