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Still well stocked: mustard shop in Dijon, France at the beginning of May
Photo: JEFF PACHOUD / AFP
The Dijon mustard, which is also becoming increasingly popular in Germany, is becoming a scarce commodity in the country where it was invented: In France, the shelves in the supermarkets intended for it are more and more often empty, reports the British "Guardian", citing its own samples.
French mustard producers justify the bottleneck by saying that the production of the required mustard seed fell by half last year.
The reason for this is poor harvests due to the climate, both in Canada, the most important growing country for this mustard, and in the French region of Burgundy, where the city of Dijon is also located.
However, it was various climate events that led to the poor harvests: In Canada, a heat wave in July 2021 caused the plants to wither, the newspaper quotes the managing director of the French mustard producer Reine de Dijon as saying.
In Burgundy, on the other hand, a very wet winter and a brief cold snap in April 2021 meant that the harvest was more than half below expectations.
Now Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has further reduced the supply of mustard seeds.
Both Ukraine and Russia are important exporters.
When Reine de Dijon wanted to buy 50 tons of mustard seed on the world market in April, the price was six times the normal price for the previous year, according to the managing director.
Another French manufacturer, Edmond Fallot, told the Guardian that not only is the scarcity of seeds curbing production, but also higher prices for other commodities needed, such as glass, paper and wine.
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