“The price of grapefruit is high on the world market”

LThe Isle of Beauty has health benefits. And she plans to trumpet it. Clementines, pomelos, lemons, oranges, the mixture of citrus fruits have happily acclimatized there. An explosion of vitamin C. C like Corsica.

This specificity was almost eradicated. “When Spain joined the common market, the steamroller of competition threatened to crush the Corsican sector”, explains Eric Imbert of the Center for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD). The Corsicans were tempted for a while to uproot the orchards and chose to respond. They decided to segment their production to differentiate themselves. The access key is nothing other than the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI).

The pomelo won the prize in 2014, seven years after the clementine. “Today, 60 growers exploit 220 hectares of orchards, half of which are organic, for an annual production of between 4,500 and 5,000 tons of grapefruit”, underlines Jean-Paul Mancel, President of the Association for the Promotion and Defense of the Corsican clementine but also of other citrus fruits. Based in Valle-di-Campoloro (Upper Corsica), he grows 1 hectare of grapefruit in addition to his 15 hectares of clementines.

A juicy shooting window

The Corsican grapefruit glides expertly onto the stalls between March and June. It jumps into the gap left between the winter wave of yellow fruits with pink flesh from Mediterranean countries, such as Spain or Israel, and the summer wave from South Africa, Mexico or the United States. A juicy shooting window for this citrus fruit. “Growers receive 60 to 70 cents per kilo and the grapefruit costs 1 euro each at the stall”, specifies Mr Mancel. Pomelo, the pink gold of Corsica.

The price of grapefruit is also high on the world market. “The price of a 15 kilo package has increased from 10 to 15 euros”, Mr Imbert specifies. However, he emphasizes that behind this revaluation lies a less rosy reality. “The global grapefruit market has collapsed, from a trading volume of 800,000 tons in 2015 to 530,000 tons in 2023.” To understand this air gap, we must turn to Florida, an ideal country for this tropical fruit. The attack of the yellow dragon, a disease that invaded the orchards about twenty years ago, has darkened the picture. According to CIRAD, grapefruit production in Florida has dried up, falling from 1.5 million to 100,000 tons. As of now, the number one position in the world is shared between Mexico and South Africa, each with 400,000 tons. At the same time, consumption has fallen. Especially in the United States, where the risk of an interaction between certain medications and pomelo juice is highlighted.

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