French growers are being pushed to up their production of mustard seeds after the country’s supermarkets suffered supply shortages of the condiment.
A drought in Canada — a significant supplier of the seeds — cut last 12 months’s harvest by about half.
That has meant mustard lovers struggling to search out a jar on the shelves of France’s supermarkets.
Now there’s a push for French producers to grow more.
Fabrice Genin, president of the Association of Burgundy Mustard Seed Producers (APGMB), said the issues in Canada had revived the importance of the sector within the French region.
A call was launched in June for local producers to extend land dedicated to growing the seeds from 4,000 hectares in 2022 to 10,000 next 12 months.
Producers are being offered €2.000 per tonne for 2023, against €900 last 12 months.
“The shortage has also generated growth and an increase in prices, which has allowed us to motivate some farmers to sow this seed because that is demanding,” said Luc Vandermaesen, managing director of Burgundy mustard association.
“The mustard seed is difficult to cultivate and it sometimes requires loads of persistence to achieve this because we have had some bad years.”
