The new French chicory campaign got off to a bad start this season, thanks to exceedingly low prices, a state of affairs which Daniel Bouquillon, president of the national federation of chicory producers (FNPE), puts down to endless retail promotions.

Prices, he said, are consequently pushed downwards, while costs continue to mount. “Production costs have exploded,” he said, “and margins have fallen by 48 per cent since 1998, while the change in prices resembles a flat encephalogram.” At the end of October, the opening price of chicory stood at just €0.95, markedly under cost price.

At a meeting with the presidents of the producer organisations at the end of November, the FNPE advised that what was required was stricter management of the market, with daily stock updates, the definition of a withdrawal price, the announcement of promotions and the creation of an equalisation fund.

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