In France, excessive rainfall since the spring has combined with drought conditions in India, the US and Russia to hike prices of fruit and vegetables, according to Le Parisien.
'The retailers have used the climatic disasters as a pretext to impose a levy on consumers,' said Pascal Ferey, environmental manager at the FNSEA, the federation of farmers' unions.
Last week, Ferey noted that vegetable prices had risen by some 10-12 per cent, including salads that has been unaffected by the weather.
Meanwhile, the price per kilo of nectarines has increased by 8 per cent and peaches by 20 per cent.
Ferey revealed that even apricots had experienced an increase of around 25 per cent, even though they are being supplied in crates for transformation into jams and have suffered only slightly from the rain.
