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Data sheet on French clementines

Fact Sheets /

Monday 4 May 2015

In 2012, 27 million tons of clementines (mandarins and tangerines included) were produced in the entire world. This represents a production surface of 2.3 million hectares. The leading producer of clementines is China with 13.6 million tons in 2012 (or 50 % of the world’s total production). China is followed by Spain (1.8 million tons), Brazil (950,000 tons) and Turkey (890,000 tons).

France produced 41,000 tons of clementines in 2012 as compared to 17,000 in 2007, or roughly a 250% increase in 5 years.

Clementine production in Europe

– Europe produces 11 percent of all clementines in the world, or roughly 2.8 million tons per year.

– In 2005, France produced 41,000 tons of clementines and became the fifth largest producer of clementines in Europe. Spain leads European production (and is the second largest producer of clementines in the world) with 1.8 million tons, followed by Italy (750,000 tons), Greece (105,000tons) and Croatia (50,000 tons).

– Following the top four is Cyprus (roughly 40,000 tons) and Portugal (34, 000 tons on average) in 6^th and 7^th place respectively amongst European producers of clementines.

– In the European Zone, outside of the European Union, Turkey (890, 000 tons) is also a large producer.

– In terms of farm land, the cultivation of clementines inEurope represents 170,000 hectares.

Didyou know? The clementine is a relatively new fruit: the appellation clementine appeared for the first time in 1929. The appellation comes from the name of Father Clément, an agronomist monk in the Oran region of Algeria who created the fruit by cross breeding a mandarin tree and a bitter orange.

Clementine imports

– France is the 3rd largest importer of clementines in the world: the country imports roughly 330 000 tons of them every year, principally from Spain and Morocco.

– The two leading importers in the world are Russia (730, 000 tons) and Germany (380,000 tons).

Clementine production in France

– On average, 30,000 tons of clementines are produced in France every year, with a record number of 41,000 tons in 2012.

– 1800 hectares of farm land is dedicated to clementines in France.

– Clementine cultivation accounts for 1% of total farm land (including fruits and vegetables) in France and 1% of the volume of fruit production.

– 98% of all national production takes place in upper Corsica: in 2011, 283,000 tons of clementines were grown on an estimated 1400 hectares. The remaining quantity was produced by southern Corsica (240 tons) and the Alpes-Maritime region (53tons).

IGPCorsican ClementineThe Corsican clementine earnedthe European IGP label in 2007. Today, 80% of clementine production in the region is under IGP governance. In order to benefit from the label, which rewards the expertise of growers and Corsican territory, the clementine must meet several criteria, including: the caliber, the skin color, the amount of juice, the level of acidity, the level of sugar and the percentage of fruit with leaves.The Corsican clementine industry is comprised of roughly 130 producers who employ more than 1000 field workers during harvest. They produce more than 20,000 tons of IGP label clementines from some 500,000 clementine trees that grow on the island.

Clementine consumption in France

– The clementine is the 4^th most consumed fruit in France behind the apple, the banana and the orange.

– This amounts to a consumption of roughly 4.2 kg a yearper person.

– Clementines are found in markets from October to April, with a spike in purchases while the fruit is in season between November and January.

– The average price of clementines is about 3€ per kilogram.

The benefits of clementines

Like its cousins the orange and the mandarin, clementines are low calorie but rich in vitamin C. The fruit is also a source of minerals and oligo-elements such as calcium, magnesium and iron, elements which play an important role in the human immune, muscular and nervous systems.

Clementines also contain flavonoids, reputed for theiranti-carcinogenic properties, as well as limonoids and carotenoids (antioxidants).

Source of Figures:

Faostat

Webzine

Data sheet on French clementines