The return of mustard is imminent. It should happen in January 2023, while the projections were for the year 2024. Amid a global shortage, the condiment was almost impossible to find on supermarket shelves in France for several months. At the origin of the phenomenon, poor weather conditions ruined the 2021 harvests in Canada, the world’s leading exporter of seeds. With a direct impact on the French mustard manufacturers who obtain 80% of their supplies from Canadian producers.
Fiscal year 2022 should look very different across the Atlantic. To prevent a repeat of the bad episode of 2021, Canada has drastically increased its production area, by around 80% to reach 225,000 hectares. For the current annual harvest, the country expects 115,000 tons of mustard seeds compared to 50,000 last year. But France was unable to benefit from this renaissance according to Luc Vandermaesen, head of the Reine de Dijon mustard factory.
Around 40% of seed needs covered next year
However, this Canadian position will not necessarily be a problem for French mustards, far from it. In fact, many players in the sector took advantage of this gloomy period to increase or simply launch their own production of mustard seeds, attracted in particular by the sky-high prices. Burgundy, the sacred land of condiments, is particularly affected by this boom. According to Luc Vandermaesen, no less than 6,000 tonnes were harvested at the beginning of the summer, compared to 4,000 last year.
And the farmers of the region have no intention of staying there according to the president of the Burgundy Mustard Association: “We want to increase the power of the Burgundy seed, and we are sure that we will get there. hectares are there”.
For next year, a target of 15,000 tons of seeds has been set, that is, approximately 40% of the annual needs of mustard producers, which are around 35,000 tons. It is not enough to foresee a French situation of self-sufficiency, at least in the short and medium term:
“If it goes well, we want to exceed that 40%. But it is not reasonable to say that we will be a single supplier, it is a bit dangerous in relation to the whims of the weather”, stressed Luc Vandermaesen in the Côte-d’Orien newspaper, but we can go towards a strong increase, especially since there is a real interest in our carbon footprint.
Source: BFM TV
