France at risk of shortage of citrus fruits after Spanish floods

French supermarkets are warning customers there could be temporary shortages of some fruits and vegetables after the flooding that hit the Valencia region affected crops and transport. 

In recent days some Carrefour customers in France have received a message via the supermarket’s mobile app saying: “due to the bad weather in Spain, some fruits and vegetables may be temporarily missing from the shelves”. 

The rescue effort continues in Valencia, where at least 217 people are confirmed to have died in last week’s floods, according to official figures. 

Spain is a major supplier of fruits and vegetables to France and citrus fruits, which are grown widely in the Valencia region, could be particularly badly hit. 

Spanish agricultural union Ava-Asaja, in a statement, said it would not be possible to assess the full economic impact on farmers until the waters had receded, but warned “there will be losses of crops yet to be harvested, (such as) early varieties of citrus, persimmons and vegetables”. 

It said as well as the damage caused by the flooding, the strong winds that came with the storm had also caused “serious damage” to both fruit and infrastructure. 

Importers in France expressed concern and said they expected a drop in deliveries from Spain.

“For the moment some producers are very difficult to reach, but we know they absolutely cannot go to their fields and that because of the floods, the electricity networks have to be completely redone,” the Perpignan representative of an import-export company told France Bleu. 

He said he expects a 60% drop in the amount of clementines arriving in France.