The cherry market - France

The cherry is the edible fruit of the cherry tree. It's a fleshy fruit with a stone, ranging in color from light red to black. There are over 600 varieties of cherry in France, the best known being the Bigarreau or Burlat.Cherries can be eaten on their own, or processed by local producers or industrialists for use in a variety of food products: syrups, sauces, brandies, jams, pastries, whole-fruit yoghurts, fruit salads... The cherry market is essentially a B2C market. All types of supermarkets are represented, with supermarkets leading the way, as well as the producers themselves. Farmers are increasingly turning to organic produce, with agriculture.gouv recording a doubling of the organic surface area cultivated in France in 2020, representing 9.5% of cultivated land. However, consumption of organic produce has suffered a blow in recent weeks and months, in the wake of the health crisis and galloping inflation, registering a decline of -1.34% in 2021 for the first time in a decade, according to AgenceBio. The clash between supply and demand for organic products is sure to change the face of many agricultural markets, including the cherry market. Global cherry production has been rising steadily for the past ten years, from 3 million tonnes in 2010/2011 to 4 million tonnes in 2021/2022. This market is set to continue growing in the face of ever-increasing demand from emerging countries, especially China, the world's leading importer of cherries. Its production leader is Turkey, and its main exporter Chile. France seems to be recovering from the low production of 2021 due to frost waves, and in 2022 should return to its 2020 production level (around 35,000 tonnes). Cherries are part of the wider fruit market in France, so in order to give a global view of the sector and to better understand the place of cherries in French fruit production, data including the fruit market in France will sometimes be used.